For several months now, Raul Fernandez has looked different – far more consistent on track and more mature off it, particularly when speaking to the media. Last season, his best since moving up to MotoGP, progressed steadily until he claimed a victory and two podiums in the final four rounds of the calendar. That late surge helped him finish inside the top 10 in the overall standings and as Aprilia’s second-best rider. All of that came despite the crash he suffered in Portimao in the penultimate race of the season, where he injured his left shoulder and was unable to line up on the grid on Sunday.
The effects of that injury resurfaced last Sunday in Buriram during the warm-up ahead of the race that opened the championship. Television footage showed Fernandez clearly in pain around the same shoulder after an awkward movement. Even so, the Trackhouse rider managed to secure a podium three hours later, matching the third place he had already achieved on Saturday – results that leave him third in the overall standings, nine points behind championship leader Pedro Acosta.
Both Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi – the two riders ahead of him in the standings – already have their futures secured with Ducati and Aprilia respectively. That is not the case for Fernandez, who still has no concrete offers for 2027 despite his evident step forward in performance.
Raúl Fernández, Trackhouse Racing talks with Davide Brivio, team manager
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
“I’m very calm and I just focus on doing my job. I have Paco [Sanchez], my agent, who takes care of everything related to my future. For the last few months, I’ve been able to stop worrying about things I can’t control,” Fernandez told Motorsport.com in Thailand. “Both Davide [Brivio, Trackhouse team manager] and Paco helped me a lot to stay focused during the final part of 2025. Now I don’t worry about which components the others have – I just focus on extracting 100% of the potential from what I have available.”
Despite his apparent calm, the outlook is not simple for one of the nine Spaniards on the 22-rider grid – an unusually high proportion in the eyes of Liberty Media, the championship’s promoter and owner, which is keen to push the globalisation of the series by broadening the nationalities of its leading protagonists.
“Raul hasn’t had it easy since he arrived in MotoGP,” a source close to the Trackhouse rider told Motorsport.com. “First at Tech3 (2022), where he had a very tough time and even had to pay compensation to KTM to terminate his contract. Then he landed at RNF (2023), where unpaid salaries and poor management only added more uncertainty and insecurity.”
Fernandez is now in his third season with the American squad, where he has finally found the stability that allows him to show his best form.
Raúl Fernández, Trackhouse Racing, celebrates his podium finish at Buriram last Sunday
Photo by: Qian Jun / MB Media via Getty Images
“That stability allows me to be the rider I was when I arrived in Moto2 and caught everyone’s attention,” Fernandez reflected, trying to stay detached from a rider market that has been heating up in recent days – even if, for the moment, it does not seem to be paying him much attention.
If the moves that already appear all but decided eventually materialise, the Madrid rider’s options may be limited. Pecco Bagnaia’s expected signing would shut the door on a possible promotion to the official Aprilia team. Yamaha appears more interested in trying to lure Luca Marini to partner Jorge Martin in its factory line-up, and a place at Pramac also looks difficult. Honda has fully committed to Fabio Quartararo and even Joan Mir does not have his seat guaranteed, while VR46 and Gresini are moving in a different direction alongside Ducati, focusing primarily on rookies.
With that in mind, the most logical move would be to extend his deal with Trackhouse. However, Motorsport.com understands that team owner Justin Marks is seriously considering selling a stake in the outfit – a potential operation that could influence the final decision regarding the rider line-up.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
