Ruben Fernandez set for MX2 Honda ride?
Rising MX2 Grand Prix star Ruben Fernandez could be joining the Honda 114 Motorsports team for 2021 after impressing during 2020 and his breakthrough year at the highest level. Fernandez, who comes from Galicia, the same area of Spain as friend and countryman Jorge Prado, was allegedly wanted by two other teams for next season after a host of top-five results this term.
The current SDM Corse Yamaha rider looks to be heading to the MX2 Honda set-up run by Livia Lancelot and created by HRC principal Giacomo Gariboldi. Fernandez will break with the Yamaha structure after a spate of mechanical problems; two coming at the recent Grands Prix in Lommel Belgium and early in 2020 when he was forced to race the Dutch round at Valkenswaard with a stock YZ250F motor.
Fernandez used the five month Covid-19 break to ramp-up his training and riding (preferring the power of a 450) at home in Spain. When he returned to action then he pushed himself into MX2 prominence with an electric showing for round three in Latvia. “I surprised myself and was 4th in the Timed Practice and finished 3rd in the first moto,” the 20-year old admitted. “I made a small mistake in the second moto but it was my first time running upfront and it was a rookie mistake while I was giving 100%. If I could repeat that moto again then I definitely would but maybe a bit calmer, more relaxed and not over-doing. I just missed the podium that day.”
Fernandez showed his versatility with 6th place in the second race at Lommel but insists his tall frame is even more dependent on the best equipment to succeed in MX2. “The bike matters so much at this level and I’m a big guy as well,” he says. “I feel like I am penalised more than the others. It depends on the track as well. If it’s a fast layout, like Latvia, then I can make some difference but one with a lot of slow corners – and where you have to ‘start with zero’ – I suffer more. My bike is more competitive now than it was at the start of the year but we still cannot really compete with the factory Yamahas. I have six ‘zeros’ so far from bike problems, otherwise my championship position would be better.”
He is trying to follow in Prado’s large and shining wake and be the second Spaniard to hit the heights in Grand Prix in recent years and after notable achievements by the likes of Jonathan Barragan and Jose Butron in MX2 in the last decade. “Prado is a super talent; not everybody can do what he has done. I used to fight with him at junior level and then he made a big step and left me behind. Economically it hasn’t been easy for me and my family and we had to stop doing the Spanish championship. I had good support from a local sponsor to do a round of the European Championship in Great Britain and finished one point from the podium. I was lucky that F&H gave me the opportunity to do the last rounds and I moved away from home when I was sixteen.”
Fernandez learnt a lot from his time as the development project with the factory Kawasaki team but couldn’t bring maturity and knowledge to match the level of the team around him. He know believes that part of the equation is ready to lead to success. “I’ve always had the speed to be in front but when I was in F&H I had the resources and the bike but I didn’t know the best way to work,” he admits. “Now, being in an Italian team and more independent, I have been more relaxed and seen what works better for me. I know what to do and what’s important and I know I can still be better, especially in the physical sense. I needed to learn by my own but now I am missing the resources I had before with F&H! I just need to put it altogether and if I find the right team then I can definitely do much better than I am doing. I’m sure I can fight for the top three with a good bike.”
Fernandez is now hoping that an agreement with HRC will open the door to the next progression in his career.
Words: Adam Wheeler
Pic: 114 Honda