Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1546141
Fernandez: "Truly a Professional Athlete'" R aul Fernandez's most convincing MotoGP win to date demonstrated his "maturity" and how he has "truly become a professional athlete," ac - cording to Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks. The Spaniard recovered from Sprint disap- pointment, when he crashed out of podium contention, to dominate Sunday's 20-lap race by leading from start to finish. "It shows the maturity and the fact he's truly become a professional athlete," Marks told as - sembled media afterward. "Everyone grows at a different pace." The win came days after confirmation that Fernandez would stay with the American team for two more years. These performances, when the future was less clear, ultimately convinced Marks to sign him for two further years. "We didn't expect Ai [Ogura] to make the decision he did [to leave the team] when he did," continued Marks. "We went to work figuring out what our future looked like on that side of the garage. At the same time Raul had to be patient. He was uncertain. In that period, he performed. Then he signed a contract and he performed. To be able to go out there and do the job no matter what's happening in the garage, the hospitality or at home—that's the mark of a great athlete." Neil Morrison Gonzalez Blunder Explained M anuel Gonzalez refused to be cowed after enduring one of the season's most embarrassing moments when he stood up to celebrate Moto2 victory at Silverstone even though one lap of the race remained. A miscalculation of the lap count and an inability to see the lap-counter display on the start-finish straight meant the Spaniard mis - calculated the race distance. "A few laps earlier, I'd been looking for the lap-counter display at the finish line but couldn't see it," he explained. "So, I thought it was the last lap, and I passed Dani [Holgado] in the final sector by braking really hard. But he was fighting really hard, too. I wasn't 100 percent sure if it was the last lap or not, so I crossed the finish line at full throttle, even though I was already celebrating a little bit. The bad luck was that Dani touched the sprocket and the exhaust." Even though he quickly recognized his mistake, Gonzalez was hamstrung by his bent exhaust. He dropped down to 14th as a result. Yet he insisted it was a positive outing. "Even though we struggled, we were one of the strongest packages and had a chance for victory. That's why I'm not disappointed; I'm actually happy with our overall performance." Neil Morrison Manuel Gonzalez was stoic but accepting in the wake of his British GP disaster. He won't make that mistake again. Trackhouse owner Justin Marks (left) heaped praise on his rider Raul Fernandez (right) after the Spaniard's superb performance at the British Grand Prix. WIND IN THE P24