After a frustrating end to his Latvian adventure, Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez gets a chance to put things right straight away as the series heads to Teutschenthal, Germany this weekend for the ninth round of the 2023 MXGP World Championships.

Up until the mid-point of the second moto, things were looking good for the Honda CRF450R rider, having been third in the qualification race and then third in the first moto, a podium was well within his reach. However, a nasty incident on the step-up whilst running fifth left him requiring assistance in the pits that dropped him well down the field and only able to salvage three points.

While the end was disappointing, the overall speed and the way Fernandez was riding was another positive on a year that has been filled with excellent moments and the Spaniard remains confident that his racing will yield the desired results soon enough. And that begins on Saturday in Germany on the hard-pack rutted Teutschenthal track, where the weather is looking a lot better than it was on Sunday in Kegums.

Last year, the #70 went five-five for fourth overall at this circuit in his first year in the MXGP class, so hopes are high that he can repeat and even improve upon that when the gate drops for Saturday’s points-scoring qualification race, and then again for the two GP-scoring motos on Sunday.

Obviously Latvia ended on a bit of a downer, having that crash and only being able to finish in 18th. However, for 99% of the weekend, I was riding well and feeling good and that’s the part I want to concentrate on and bring into this weekend in Germany. Last year I was fourth overall after a pair of fifth place finishes and I know I’ve improved a lot since then, so once again my aim will be to get on the podium and keep this good season rolling.

Ruben Fernandez

We really felt like Ruben would be on the podium last week in Latvia, and I think without the rain, he would have been. However, you have to be able to deal with all conditions in these world championships so its something he’s still learning but overall it was a good showing and we’re proud of the commitment he’s showing this year in difficult circumstances. Next up is Germany, which Ruben actually hasn’t ridden too many times compared with other riders, but he had good results last year and we’ll be trying to get him at the same level or higher this time around.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas