Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez ‘can’t say’ one thing about Aprilia’s MotoGP bike after the Americas Grand Prix

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Trackhouse Racing ace Raul Fernandez had his best result of the season so far at the
Grand Prix of the Americas but remains the lowest-ranked rider with an Aprilia bike.

The 24-year-old scored a 12th-place finish at the Circuit of the Americas last Sunday to seal four points. His haul lifted Fernandez to 18th in the riders’ standings with five for the year so far, having recorded his first point of the season in the previous round with P15 in Argentina.

Just Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori has now taken fewer points over the opening rounds of the season among all riders using the RS-GP25 than Fernandez. But his total lags far from rookie teammate Ai Ogura with 25 and factory Aprilia pilot Marco Bezzecchi with 24 to date.

Raul Fernandez cannot say ‘anything’ bad about Aprilia’s 2025 MotoGP bike after the Americas GP

Fernandez has enjoyed steady progress through the start of the 2025 MotoGP season since retiring from the Thailand Grand Prix after overheating his tyre fighting Jack Miller for a top-seven result. Yet Ogura’s impressive rookie results have put a shadow on Fernandez’s form.

Ogura has ‘absolutely destroyed’ Fernandez since stepping up from Moto2 in the opinion of Neil Hodgson. The reigning intermediate class champion sealed P5 in Thailand and P9 in the Americas GP on Sunday, bouncing back from Ogura’s Argentina GP disqualification from P8.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Raul Fernandez from net worth to career stats

But while Fernandez has not managed to match what Ogura has achieved on his RS-GP25 in the first three rounds, the Trackhouse rider admits he cannot say ‘anything’ negative about Aprilia’s 2025 MotoGP bike. The Spaniard is comfortable on his bike but lacks a little speed.

Fernandez said after achieving P12 in the Americas GP, via quotes by Motociclismo: “At the moment, I can’t say anything about the bike. I feel comfortable with it. I can ride as I want.

“I feel we have pace because the pace wasn’t a disaster. It was 0.3, 0.6 [tenths] more or less throughout the race. So, the pace isn’t like the top five, but we’re in the same rhythm as the middle of the group.”

Raul Fernandez could struggle to get out of Ai Ogura’s shadow at the Qatar Grand Prix

Trackhouse team principal Davide Brivio backed Fernandez to perform well at the Americas GP as they found some improvements with the settings on his Aprilia bike in Argentina. But the Madrid native is still searching for the final few tenths of a second to truly battle Ogura.

One benefit his inexperienced Trackhouse teammate had over the Spaniard, who is the one rider who experienced an RS-GP last season, was that Fernandez could not ride his Aprilia naturally after sustaining a toe injury at the 2025 Sepang Test which delayed his adaptation.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Ai Ogura from height to career stats

Yet, three rounds into the season, Ogura continues to show Fernandez up to be the highest-ranked pilot not using a Ducati bike in the riders’ championship. Odds will also be in Ogura’s favour next time out at the Grand Prix of Qatar as Fernandez has seldom fared well at Lusail.

Fernandez is yet to score a single point through three visits to the Lusail International Circuit as a MotoGP rider. He finished his premier class debut at the 2023 Qatar GP in 18th, sealed 17th place in 2023 and retired in 2024 after he even stalled on the grid and forced a restart.