Raul Fernandez was lying just nine points behind team-mate Remy Gardner before the Misano race. But now the gap is considerably larger, 18 points in fact, after the Spaniard crashed out of the race and the Australian finished seventh. Just as the Spaniard was dominating and had an opportunity to move into the lead, it all went up in smoke with a crash that weighs heavily on his title chances.

Real disappointment

As a rookie, Fernandez is having an incredible season in Moto2, having scored seven wins and a total of ten podiums. It was looking as if he might do what Marc Marquez was unable to do before him, or rather win the title in his first season. “I don’t know what happened”, Fernandez told motogp.com, “it’s hard not knowing what happened. When I’m in the race, I’m not thinking about the championship, I just want to win the race. I made a very strange error, because I did everything as I always do”.

Time for a reset

All is not lost, with 50 points still up for grabs, but there’s no denying that the situation is now extremely difficult for him. Gardner will need to gain just eight points at Portimao to become Moto2 world champion and Fernandez is well aware of this: “I need to go home, have fun, clear my mind of what has happened and give it my all in the next two races”. It’s impossible not to have regrets: “I’m really sorry for my team. I should have thought more about the championship and not the race, but I don’t want to keep thinking about the crash. I’ll try to improve in future”.

Translated by Heather Watson

MotoGP, Ciabatti and Bagnaia's crash at Misano: “It hurts”