Raul Fernandez admitted he spent the “last lap crying” inside his visor before taking his maiden MotoGP victory at Phillip Island.
The Spaniard held his own after Aprilia stablemate Marco Bezzecchi took his two long lap penalties to win in comfortable fashion.
The 24-year-old became Aprilia’s 300th race winner, a more than fitting reward for overcoming past adversity and the looming threat of losing his MotoGP seat.
“I still don’t believe it,” Fernandez said to MotoGP post-race.
“In the last four laps, I tried not to make a mistake, but then I removed a tear off and I couldn’t grab the handlebar again! But it helped to me to focus and say, ‘you need to be calm if you want to get the victory’.
“On the dashboard, we have the sectors, and I was just thinking to be constant.
“The last three, four laps, I had a big drop on the tyre and I just tried to survive. But the more difficult thing was that I made all the last lap crying in the helmet, because I never thought it was the day to get a victory!
“I am also very happy for Trackhouse and Aprilia, because it’s the 300th victory for them.”
Fernandez’s win makes him the 16th Spanish premier class winner and lifts him to tenth in the championship standings.
But he admitted the win came as a surprise, with no expectations of standing on the top step heading into the race.
“Yesterday in the sprint, Marco [Bezzecchi] had an amazing pace and also Diggia [Fabio Di Giannantonio] in the last part of the Sprint.
“This morning, when I had a meeting with the team, we thought the podium was a realistic position, but I never thought that we had the chance to get the victory.
“I knew he had two long laps to make, but I still thought that he had a pace to come back,” he said. “So to be honest I didn’t think too much about the victory, just trying to get my first podium.”
READ MORE – Marco Bezzecchi credits Aprilia strategy en route to Phillip Island MotoGP podium
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