“I couldn’t even smile”: MotoGP’s newest winner on tough stretch before Australia triumph

From a fracture in pre-season testing to victory in the final leg of the campaign, it's been a rollercoaster year for Fernandez

Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez has opened up on the mental toll of his struggles early in the 2025 MotoGP season after scoring a breakthrough victory in the Australian Grand Prix.

Fernandez endured the worst possible start to the year after breaking a finger on his left hand on the opening day of pre-season testing at Sepang.

While he was able to make a comeback at the following test in Thailand after getting surgery, but results proved hard to come by in the early part of the season.

After the opening eight rounds he had accumulated just 25 points, about half of his rookie team-mate Ai Ogura, leaving him a distant 19th in the riders’ championship.

His form picked up after the Aragon test in June, and he scored his first sprint podium in Indonesia earlier this month, but Aprilia boss Massimo Rivola was still dissatisfied after he could only manage sixth in the grand prix.

At Phillip Island, however, Fernandez finally put everything together to take a memorable maiden victory, capitalising on a double long lap penalty for factory rider Marco Bezzecchi.

The result came as a huge reward for the Spaniard, who revealed how tough things became when results weren’t going his way early in the season.

“There was a moment when I was no longer thinking about continuing in MotoGP, but about being happy, and I wasn't enjoying myself,” he told DAZN.

“That's where the human side of the team and my family came in. After the race in Jerez, which was a difficult moment for me, my chief mechanic, my coach, and I went out for pizza before the test and said that if we could turn things around, great, but if not, we had to find a solution. Because I wasn't happy.

“Things weren't working out, and I couldn't even get up in the morning with a smile on my face. From then on, they helped me and gave me a sense of calm. [Trackhouse team boss] Davide Brivio and my family did too.

“We decided to start building a foundation, little by little, but honestly, without thinking that this moment could come this year.”

Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Martin Keep / AFP via Getty Images

At the beginning of the race, Fernandez dropped to third behind Bezzecchi and Pedro Acosta, but fought his way back past the KTM rider to reclaim second.

That became first when Bezzecchi served the first of his long-lap penalties on lap 5, putting him in a position he hadn’t enjoyed since the 2024 Barcelona sprint.

Fernandez’s advantage extended to over three seconds at one stage, but he eventually crossed the finish line 1.4.s ahead of VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio after a late tear-off scare.

“I still don't believe it,” he said about his victory. “This morning when I had a meeting with the team, we thought that to fight for the podium was an unrealistic position, but I never thought that we had the choice to get the victory.

“Anyway, I am really happy for me, for my team, but especially for my family and for my brother [and Moto3 rider Adrian Fernandez] because he always supports me.

“When I overtook Pedro and I saw that I had a very similar pace to Marco, I said, ‘okay, maybe it's the day, but you don't need to make a mistake.’

“In the last four laps, I tried not to make a mistake, but I removed the tear off and I couldn't take the handlebar again.

“I said, ‘you need to be calm if you want to get the victory’. I tried to be even more relaxed, but in the last lap, in the last sector, I started to cry in the helmet.

“I am very happy for Trackhouse, but also for Aprilia because it's the 300th [grand prix] victory for them, so congratulations also for them.”