Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez is hoping to improve upon last weekend’s podium performance in Agueda, Portugal, setting his sights on victory at his home MXGP of Spain, taking place at the Lugo circuit not far from where the #70 grew up.
After the news broke earlier today that Tim Gajser will be absent for the foreseeable future due to having had surgery on his injured right-shoulder, Fernandez will once again be the sole representative on the Honda HRC CRF450R at a track that he really enjoys racing on. Unfortunately he missed last season’s GP here due to his own injury, but after showing good form in the previous few rounds and then finally putting it all together in Portugal – in what were horrendous conditions – he is extremely excited to show his full capabilities to all his fans around the circuit. While the weather forecast isn’t perfect, it is a lot better than Agueda last weekend, and Fernandez is hoping the conditions stay dry enough so that he can really utilise his home-field advantage and aim for his first win of 2025.
In the MX2 class, Ferruccio Zanchi showed his mud prowess once again to post sixth overall in the sloppy mess a week ago, and having won a moto in Spain already this year, he’ll be hoping a return to that kind of performance in the northwest region of Galicia. However, the #73 knows that he has to be at the highest level throughout the whole weekend in order to give himself a chance to battle in out for those honours again, but this would be the perfect chance to boost his confidence as the season nears the halfway point.
Valerio Lata showed that when Agueda was dry, he had the speed, but he couldn’t replicate that same level after the rain fell. It is something he knows he must work on, but other than that, the young Italian has shown a lot of promise in his rookie MX2 campaign. There have been a lot of positive moments already and if he keeps working hard and improving at the same level, he will definitely be up there fighting for the podium spots soon enough.
So, while the team are down to three for now, those three riders are looking strong and are highly motivated to make sure this MXGP of Spain will be a memorable one for the team and all the Honda supporters around the track.
TIMETABLE
SATURDAY:
09:30 WMX Free Practice, 10:00 EMX250 Free Practice, 10:30 MX2 Free Practice, 11:00 MXGP Free Practice, 12:20 WMX Qualifying Practice, 13:00 EMX250 Qualifying Practice, 13:40 MX2 Time Practice, 14:15 MXGP Time Practice, 15:00 WMX Race 1, 15:45 EMX250 Race 1, 16:35 MX2 Qualifying Race, 17:25 MXGP Qualifying Race.
SUNDAY:
09:40 EMX250 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 WMX Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.
Ruben Fernandez 70
It was great to get on the podium in Portugal, even if beforehand, I felt I could have done even better. However, the conditions soon made that very difficult so third is something I was actually very happy with. Now though, I want to go for the win in Lugo as it is a track I like a lot, and I feel like I have the speed to be victorious. Before Portugal, I hadn’t had a complete weekend, but now I’ve done it, I know I can do it again and I think it will be great to do it in front of a lot of my friends and family who are coming to watch me. I can’t wait to get started!
Ferruccio Zanchi 73
Things went a bit better in Portugal, but there is still more to come. There are still errors that creep into my races and I need to cut them out if I want to be at the front of the field. The top guys don’t make those mistakes and if I want to fight with them, I can’t afford too either. It seems like a long time ago that I won the race in Spain, so I need to start raising my game and get back to that level quickly.
Valerio Lata 18
I can see that my performances are getting better and that the work we do with the Honda CRF250R is working well, I just can’t seem to get it all together out on the track. I didn’t really enjoy my Portugal experience with all the mud and the rain, but I need to get better in those conditions. I really hope Lugo won’t be too bad because I think in the dry, I am very close to matching the best guys and that’s what I want to go out there and prove. Trentino and Switzerland were both positive rounds and I want to keep that feeling going this weekend.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager – MXGP
It was great to see Ruben step-up his racing and make the podium in Portugal. We’ve believed he’s had the speed for a number of rounds now, but he couldn’t quite do it in both motos. Now that he has, we really expect good things from him in Lugo and we’ll do everything we can to help him do that. Unfortunately, this week we’ve been dealing with the news that Tim needed surgery but apparently it all went well and he’s beginning the road to recovery. It isn’t easy to see a potential title slip from his grasp but that is the situation, and we will all deal with it and support him through this time and hope he can rejoin us quickly.
