Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez battled through the field at the MXGP of Great Britain to finish fourth, closing up to fourth place in the MXGP championship standings in the process. Unfortunately in MX2 timed practice, Valerio Lata was caught up in another rider’s mistake and although he tried to race the qualification race, he had to pull off after one lap.

It was really harsh on the young Italian, who was just completing a hot-lap that would see him get fourth gate-pick, but as he crossed the finish-line jump, the rider in front bailed from his bike in the direct line of Lata’s Honda CRF250R and the #18 had nowhere to go. A collision between the two machines left Lata thrown onto the ground where he recovered himself before receiving medical assistance. Tests were carried out due to the size of the impact and although they came back negative, it was far from ideal for the Lata, who was looking really strong on this dry, hard-pack Matterley Basin circuit. Giving himself every opportunity, he then lined up for the qualification race and made an excellent start, rounding the first bend in second position. However, he quickly dropped down the field as the pain became too much and after completing one lap, he swiftly rode back to the truck. Physio work has since been carried out, but the decision to race will be taken tomorrow when hopefully he’ll be feeling a lot better.

Thankfully Fernandez’ day went a lot better as the Spaniard showed he is back to his fast-aggressive self after battling through the pain in Latvia last time out. Third in free practice, then an excellent second in timed practice meant the Honda CRF450R rider had a great chance of doing well at a track he loves riding. Unfortunately, he couldn’t capitalise out of the gate and instead had to quickly make a number of passes to move himself into the top five. Settling into a good rhythm, he tried to close-up to third place, but he ended up crossing the line in fourth. He would have hoped for more before the race, but he still has a great chance of a podium spot when the action resumes tomorrow for the GP-scoring motos.

MX2 Qualification

1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 24:17.709; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:11.458; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:12.706; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:13.129; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:27.272; 6. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:28.382; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:37.461; 8. David Braceras (ESP, Honda), +0:39.033; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:40.592; 10. Maxime Grau (FRA, KTM), +0:48.640;

Ruben Fernandez  70

I enjoy coming to Matterley Basin, although this was a very dry version of the circuit. I felt good in practice, posting the second fastest time for second gate-pick. However, I wasn’t able to get a good enough start to fight for the lead and instead had to come through to fourth. It was a solid race but I’m hopeful for more when we line up tomorrow.

Valerio Lata  18

I’m very disappointed not to be able to race today. I was feeling really good, I’d just done a good lap in timed practice and then a rider crashed in front of me and I had nowhere to go. I tried to race the qualification race and even got a good start, but it became apparent very early that I wouldn’t be able to continue and had to withdraw from the race. I will now try and get as much help as possible to be able to compete in the two motos tomorrow.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager – MXGP

We seem to be going through some bad luck as a team, with Valerio having to pullout of the qualification race due to another rider crashing right in front of him on a jump landing. He got checked out straight away as he was in a lot of pain, and although he wasn’t feeling 100%, he tried to race and see what he could do. Unfortunately, he had to pull off the track and now we’ll see how he feels when he arrives tomorrow and make a decision then. Ruben looked good all day and we believe he can do even better in the GP-scoring races, so everyone will be working super-hard to give him all the help he needs.

Qualifying Race

Pos.      Rider    Num     Nation                Points Team    Time/Gap

1            Herlings Jeffrey              84          NDL      10          Red Bull KTM Factory Racing                24:09.704

2            Febvre Romain               3            FRA       9            Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP                0:01.839

3            Coldenhoff Glenn         259        NDL      8            Fantic Factory Racing MXGP                0:16.450

4            Fernandez Ruben          70          SPA       7            Honda HRC – MXGP      0:20.606

5            Coenen Lucas 96          BEL       6            Red Bull KTM Factory Racing   0:27.222

6            Vlaanderen Calvin        10          NDL      5            Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team      0:29.950

7            Horgmo Kevin 24          NOR      4            Honda SR Motoblouz   0:34.595

8            Pancar Jan        253        SLO       3            TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team   0:41.911

9            Bogers Brian     189        NDL      2            Fantic Factory Racing MXGP    0:43.274

10          Seewer Jeremy               91          SWI       1            Ducati Factory MX Team                0:43.925

11          Cairoli Antonio               222        ITA         0            Ducati Factory MX Team                0:51.906

12          Koch Tom           226        GER      0            MRT Racing Team Beta               0:54.645

13          Forato Alberto 303        ITA         0            Honda SR Motoblouz   0:58.379

14          van Doninck Brent                       BEL       0                           1:02.504

15          Nickel Cato                     GER      0                           1:10.409

16          Sterry Adam     811        GBR      0            KTM Kozak Team            1:11.737

17          van de Moosdijk Roan 34          NDL      0            KTM Kozak Team            1:16.210

18          Bonacorsi Andrea         132        ITA         0            Fantic Factory Racing MXGP                1:24.777

19          Purdon Tristan                RSA       0                           1:25.541

20          Adamson John                212        GBR      0            Wildcard Rider               1:45.38

Rider Standings

Pos.      Rider    Num     Nation                Points Team

1            Febvre Romain               3            FRA       539        Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP

2            Coenen Lucas 96          BEL       510        Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

3            Coldenhoff Glenn         259        NDL      370        Fantic Factory Racing MXGP

4            Renaux Maxime             959        FRA       347        Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team

5            Fernandez Ruben          70          SPA       345        Honda HRC – MXGP

6            Gajser Tim         243        SLO       305        Honda HRC – MXGP

7            Bonacorsi Andrea         132        ITA         300        Fantic Factory Racing MXGP

8            Herlings Jeffrey              84          NDL      289        Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

9            Vlaanderen Calvin        10          NDL      289        Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team

10          Seewer Jeremy               91          SWI       254        Ducati Factory MX Team

11          Horgmo Kevin 24          NOR      208        Honda SR Motoblouz

12          Watson Ben      919        GBR      187        MRT Racing Team Beta

13          Geerts Jago       93          BEL       184        Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team

14          Pancar Jan        253        SLO       172        TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team

15          Jonass Pauls    41          LAT        162        Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP

16          Bogers Brian     189        NDL      156        Fantic Factory Racing MXGP

17          Gifting Isak        517        SWE      149        JK Racing Yamaha Active

18          Guadagnini Mattia        101        ITA         142        Ducati Factory MX Team

19          van de Moosdijk Roan 34          NDL      99          KTM Kozak Team

20          Guillod Valentin             92          SWI       72          Wildcard Rider

21          van Doninck Brent                       BEL       58

22          Sterry Adam     811        GBR      57          KTM Kozak Team

23          Brumann Kevin               87          SWI       50          Wildcard Rider

24          Koch Tom           226        GER      43          MRT Racing Team Beta

25          Stauffer Marcel              411        AUT       38          Wildcard Rider

26          Spies Maximillian                         GER      36

27          Gilbert Josh                     GBR      27

28          Forato Alberto 303        ITA         21          Honda SR Motoblouz

29          Tondel Cornelius           17          NOR      20          JWR Honda Racing

30          Ludwig Noah                   GER      19

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