Raúl Fernández finished the Valencia GP MotoGP practice in eighth place. The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team rider secured once again direct entry into the second qualifying.
An important result that left him satisfied, as he stated: ‘It was really good, we are again in the Q2, which is really important for us. The first goal of the weekend is try to go directly to Q2. We get there again, since Misano we are more times in Q2 than in Q1. That is something good for us. Anyway, today I felt really, really comfortable in terms of pace. I was really fast with the used tyre, but I just had one opportunity to do the time attack because the first tyre was a little bit strange, I didn’t feel the grip, I did two laps, but anyway I was too slow. As soon as we changed the tyre, I’ve improved almost one second. I’m happy for that’.
Regarding Saturday, Fernández said he would like to be on the top six of the qualifying: ‘I think tomorrow will be a very important day for us. We have to be focused, trying to get a really good place on the grid. It will very important, if you see the lap times we are very, very close. So for me something good is try to be on the first or second row, because if we are there it will be a very different race and I will try to do that. And it’s important, because if you go to Q1 and later to Q2 you have just one opportunity in terms of tyre because you use two in Q1. But anyway I’m happy and I want to keep like this’.
About whether it will have any kind of impact to encounter any of the title contenders on the track during the races, #25 replied: ‘Nothing. It’s good for me I think. They have a lot of pressure, I don’t have nothing to gain or to lose. So it’s good for me because when you are on track you feel the pressure of everybody. But for me is good because at the end I come here to do the maximum and I come here to see that we can be there. If they have the pressure to don’t do a mistake, at the end it’s quite interesting for the rest of the riders. For me nothing changes’.