Truckhouse MotoGP rider Raul Fernandez says his run to the best result of the Czech Grand Prix season was a direct result of a “really positive meeting” after the German Grand Prix.
The fourth-year MotoGP rider is under pressure to improve his form on the satellite Aprilia in 2025, with Italian brand CEO Massimo Rivola recently saying Raul Fernandez is dominant.
After insufficient start of the campaign, his results steadily improved, with Fernandez earning a top-10 finish with six of the final seven Grand Pres.
In the second row of Brno, the 24-year-old finished fifth in the 21-lap Grand Prix, securing his first MotoGP top five since Valencia 2023.
He says this was largely helped in a meeting with Davide Brivio, the boss of the Truckhouse team.
“Of course I’m really happy,” Fernandez said Sunday in Brno.
“We are working very well, step by step, on the bikes and on the team.
“But I think there are two important keys this weekend, and the first key was qualifying.
“Of course, the last seven races were six in the top 10. So that’s a signal that we’re working well. Step by step I feel good.
“But at least qualifying makes this small difference, because I was fighting Pecco and Fabio from the start.
“So that’s the key and we need to understand how to improve future qualifying.
“And the second key was a truly positive encounter with Davide on Thursday.
“I’ve improved a lot, I’ve understood a lot. Of course, I think we’re very young. We need to understand that we can improve every day, as people and riders.
“So, basically, it helped me a lot. I tried to focus on my work. I tried to do 100%, but we understand that we can improve every day and learn something.”
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He has signed a contract for next year, but a flash of speed from rookie teammate Ai Ogura and a recent test for Moto2 Points leader Manuel Gonzalez put a question mark on the location of Fernandez at the trackhouse.
Brivio told MotoGP’s World Feed early in the BRNO weekend that the Gonzalez test had nothing changed in this regard.
“It’s not really pressure from the Gonzalez test,” he said.
“From this perspective, that wasn’t a big deal, but we started the season with injuries and struggled to stay in the top 10 of the top 15.
“But since Le Mans, we have always improved to the top 10.
“It wasn’t good in Saxenring last weekend, but we’ll talk about it and try to use as much as we can in our garage to keep our focus on what we have.”