The circuit of Phillip Islandfrom now on, it will have a special flavor for Raul Fernandez. Four days after celebrating his twenty-fourth birthday, this has been the scene of his first victory in MotoGPin what is being his third season in the premier category of motorcycling. In the sprint race He perhaps toyed with that option for a moment, but he had no choice but to settle for second place which, in turn, meant his second consecutive podium on Saturday. Meanwhile, on the second and third steps, two Italians accompanied him. On the one hand, Fabio Di Giannantoniowhose second place would have a bittersweet taste for him. And, on the other, a Marco Bezzecchi that, despite having to fulfill a double long lap for the touch that caused the fall and subsequent injury of Marc Marquez in Mandalika, he managed to take third place.
“I can’t believe it. After so much time, we have been able to find something like this. The entire team never stopped trusting and supporting me and that has allowed me to achieve this achievement. The last five laps have seemed eternal and I want to thank both the entire team and my family,” said Raúl Fernández after the test, who, in Australiabecame the sixteenth Spaniard to reach the top of the podium in MotoGP. And he did it really big. He started second, behind a Marco Bezzecchi dazzling and chased by a Pedro Acosta which, despite briefly overtaking him, would eventually fall to fifth place after being overtaken by Alex Marquezfinally fourth despite the fact that he rode for a long time as second, Di Giannantonio and Bezzecchi.
“It was a super tough race, with the penalty everything was more complicated. The strategy worked out perfectly, I wanted to make a perfect start and push at the beginning and I was able to do it, but I didn’t imagine that I could reach the podium in these circumstances,” said the rider. Apriliacurrently third in the general classification ahead of Pecco Bagnaia who, once again, ended up hitting his bones on the ground. “It is a fantastic island, racing here is always fantastic. It has been a great race, bitter and sweet at the same time, because we ruined our chances of victory with the classification. It is a season that is being a bit of a roller coaster, but we always try to move forward,” finally added Di Giannantonio who climbed to second place after overtaking the youngest of the Márquez with a high-voltage overtake with five laps to go in the race while Bezzecchi, for his part, waited until the penultimate race to remove him from the podium.
As for the rest of the Spanish pilots, Alex Rins was seventh, Pol Espargarotenth and Fermin Aldeguerfourteenth, while Joan Mirfor his part, was unable to finish the test due to a fall, as also happened to Johann Zarco and to the local idol, Jack Miller. Next weekend, the Malaysian Grand Prix will put an end to the Asian journey to face the last two rounds of the season. The first, in Portugal, between November 7 and 9, while Valencia, as tradition dictates, will draw the curtain on the season a week later.