MotoGP Sepang Shakedown: Fernandez ‘starting to understand’ RC16

As the sole rookie on 2023’s MotoGP grid, Augusto Fernandez joined the raft of factory test riders hitting the Sepang track for this week’s shakedown.

Kicking off his premier class career alongside Pol Espargaro at the newly-formed GasGas Tech3 squad, Fernandez was eager to get up to speed on the RC16 ahead of the official test at the end of this week.

Three days in Malaysia from 5th-7th February allowed the Spaniard to reacquaint himself with the bike he first saw back in November at Valencia, and while rain disrupted proceedings for the opening two, the reigning Moto2 Champion was keen to soak up as much available information as possible. With 107 laps around the vast 5.5km layout under his belt and a best time of 2’00.482, the 25-year-old was feeling confident ahead of joining the remainder of the grid for the official championship outing on Friday 10th February.

“The first test in Valencia was just about riding a MotoGP bike, without thinking about changing settings too much, so logically the goal of the Shakedown was to get the job started properly and build my base,” Fernandez said on Tuesday evening. “I am happy to have had three days to get used to the MotoGP bike, and I already feel like I am starting to understand why everything is happening, and how to ride this machine.

“We got a lot of information over the last three days, both in dry and wet conditions, and it is going to be very important to understand what I need to do to go faster in the next few days. The team did a very good job so I would like to say thank you to them. I am looking forward to Friday at the Sepang Test.”