Emerging Spanish MX2 star – 114 Motorsports Honda’s Ruben Fernandez – has struggled to add to his podium tally in the second half of the 2021 season but hopes his slowly improving right shoulder injury and the fresh arrival of the 2022 CRF250R will boost his competitiveness, starting this weekend for his home round at Intu Xanadú Arroyomolinos.
The 22-year-old dislocated his collarbone in a first corner crash at the Grand Prix of Sardinia three weeks ago and was only able to ride the Honda for the first time prior to the French round last Sunday.
“Three weeks without riding…but it was time to try and especially with the home GP coming up,” he said at Lacapelle Marival. “I also wanted to ride for the team at their home round here. It’s still painful and more so when I get off the bike. If I’m on it for a long time then I really notice that something is not right. In the end it’s ‘rideable’ and the adrenaline cloaks a lot of it.”
Fernandez could not complete the first moto in France due to a technical problem and even though the team have been able to highly tune their current CRF he has been penalised for both horsepower and because of his weight and size for the 250. 114 Motorsports had a boost recently when it was confirmed that the new 250R will come into their hands prior to the Spanish round. The bike is the technical base that Jett Lawrence used to win the 2021 AMA 250MX title. Fernandez welcomes the upgrade but doesn’t know if it will be ready for the gate in Madrid.
“It can only be a good thing. From what I hear it’s quite an improvement all-round and when it comes to preparing it for Grands Prix then we should have more possibilities, more power,” he says. “We’ll do some tests this week and will ride at a track close to Intu Xanadú and make a decision if it’s ready for the GP or we still need to do some work.”
American Honda have led their own development in conjunction with HRC for the Lawrences’ racing efforts but it is still unclear whether the Japanese will give the same backing to 114 Motorsports and Fernandez for the 2022 season.
Words: Adam Wheeler
Pic: Nigel McKinstry
