Raul Fernandez, winner of last year’s Australian Sprint, demonstrated promising progress during the first day of the MotoGP test at the Buriram International Circuit in Thailand. As the countdown nears for the 2026 MotoGP World Championship, Fernandez continued fine-tuning his Aprilia RS-GP26, aiming to strengthen his performance ahead of the Thailand Grand Prix.
Performance and Improvements During First Day of Testing
After completing 66 laps on the Chang circuit, Fernandez finished the day in sixth place, only two-tenths of a second behind the fastest rider. He focused the morning session on improving corner entry through adjustments to his bike setup, while dedicating the afternoon to aerodynamic enhancements in preparation for qualifying tests scheduled for Sunday. The gap to his teammate and current leader, Marco Bezzecchi, narrowed significantly from 0.719 seconds to just 0.024 seconds, indicating increased competitiveness.
Fernandez’s Reflections on Bike Setup and Riding Style
Raul Fernandez expressed a positive outlook following the day’s testing, highlighting the team’s efforts to adapt the bike to his style.
“I’m very happy. On the last day in Sepang, we weren’t entirely convinced the bike suited my riding style, as I felt vibrations entering the corners, which was disconcerting. Here, the team did an excellent job today. This morning, we tried numerous solutions to provide them with enough data to analyze all the options,”
Fernandez said. He added that the afternoon session involved laps on soft tires without pushing for peak lap times, focusing instead on understanding the bike’s behavior. He remains confident that further improvement will come after the next day of testing.
Crew Chief Details Adjustments and Testing of New Parts
Noè Herrera, Fernandez’s crew chief, explained how the team reset their approach after challenges faced in the previous test at Sepang, Malaysia.
“Today in Buriram, we reset everything after realizing in Sepang that we were somewhat lost in our work, particularly due to the very high level of grip encountered there. So we went back to our basic setup and tested some new parts, which proved positive.”
He noted that corner entry remained challenging but had changed in character due to differing conditions at Buriram. Herrera emphasized the incremental progress made in refining the setup to boost Fernandez’s confidence and praised Aprilia’s new aerodynamic options, one of which showed clear promise while others required further analysis.
Significance of Thailand Test and Outlook for the Season
Fernandez’s strong performance during the Thailand test day signals a hopeful trajectory for Aprilia as the team prepares for the 2026 MotoGP season. The narrowing gap to Marco Bezzecchi and positive feedback on bike handling demonstrate an effective recovery phase in development. With only days remaining until the Thailand Grand Prix, the team’s ongoing work on setup and aerodynamics will be crucial for race readiness and potential championship contention.
