Trackhouse Racing made headlines on Saturday at the Sachsenring MotoGP. First, both drivers excelled in qualifying, but then the picture was divided in the sprint. Why was Raul Fernandez completely passed over while Miguel Oliveira took a sensational second place?
No secret: Trackhouse simply with good work
“There is no one reason. I think everything just fits together: the track and our approach. We tried not to touch the bike too much. We worked a lot on the suspension and the electronics,” Oliveira explained the pace. So it’s no secret, just good work on a track that suits the Aprilia. “I can now get the most out of my riding style from this bike,” said the Portuguese rider happily after a long dry spell.
Second place in the sprint was the first top-three result for the new American team. But in qualifying, it looked like a double sensation. Not only did Oliveira shine with second place on the grid, but Raul Fernandez followed him with third place. The Spaniard thanked his team for this: “I had nothing left in my quiver yesterday, but the team did a fantastic job. This morning, I immediately felt that the bike was competitive. I rode the way I wanted to.”
Trackhouse makes a fatal mistake with Raul Fernandez
But if the progress was so great, how could he be pushed back to 14th place in the sprint in 15 laps? The explanation is that this is perhaps the most vexing issue in MotoGP at the moment. “It was about the [Reifen-]Pressure. It’s very difficult with this rule. The team played it safe, but for some reason that wasn’t right,” explains Fernandez. It’s self-explanatory as to which direction it was wrong: “It was too high, because if the pressure was too low we would have received a penalty.”
How did this error come about? The weather was a factor: “We had the cloudy weather that is now coming [gegen 16:00 Uhr Ortszeit] somewhat earlier.” Accordingly, it was even warmer than expected. The front became too hot and Fernandez kept sliding around. This must be corrected for Sunday, because the demands are high: “We have to find a solution and then we have a chance of making the top 5. That is our goal.”
Martin drives away from Oliveira, luckily!
The question remains why Oliveira was not also passed back if the team misjudged the weather conditions? A look at the race situation also helps here. While Fernandez got off to a bad start and was involved in duels, which heated up the tires even more, the Portuguese held on much better in second place. And in this second place he even got some fresh air: “The front tire went up a bit and I started to understeer heavily. So he pulled [Martin] which reduced my pressure on the front tire. Then I had the same pace again.”
So it is a bit strange: Because Jorge Martin drove away, the tire was able to recover in fresher air and Oliveira held on to second place. Behind the Trackhouse pilot was none other than the world champion. And he would like to leave him behind on Sunday too: “I am not worried about anyone. Today I had Pecco [Bagnaia] behind me. I would accept it if he was faster and overtook me, but today he didn’t do that. So I just want to try the same thing tomorrow.” But then the conditions could be a little different and the right choice of groove pressure could be crucial again.