Fourth place for Fernandez to kick-off 2023 MXGP Championship - results 11.03.2023: MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina MXGP 2023 Round 1 Ruben Fernandez started his Team HRC career with an impressive fourth place finish in the qualifying race of the MXGP of Argentina-Patagonia, giving him seven points as the series now incorporates

MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina
MXGP 2023   Round 1



Ruben Fernandez started his Team HRC career with an impressive fourth place finish in the qualifying race of the MXGP of Argentina-Patagonia, giving him seven points as the series now incorporates these race results into the championship standings.



Villa La Angostura is one of the most picturesque tracks in the world and the perfect venue to open this 2023 MXGP World Motocross Championship. Nestled in the Andes Mountain range, the extremely large crowd were also blessed with beautiful weather, giving the riders a nice boost after a cold European winter.



And in what was a solid day all around for Fernandez, the Honda CRF450R rider was fifth in free practice, then sixth in timed practice, before getting a good jump out of the gate and powering his way round the first turn in third place.


Putting in consistent laptimes, the #70 kept a strong third place for the majority of the race, before a rider crashed right in front of him, allowing the rider behind to take advantage and pass him with a couple of laps to go.




Still, fourth is a great start, in what is his Team HRC debut and he will take a lot of positives into tomorrow’s two main motos. Like previous years, the day will start with a warm-up, before the two races which will decide the GP overall. However, the Sunday points, will then be added to the points from today’s qualification race to decide the championship standings.   
    
       
    
Ruben Fernandez  70


I am very pleased with how today went. I love coming here, and hoped it would be a good day, but there is a lot of work that goes into these events and I am glad that I was able to show everyone my level right away. Right away, we had a good bike setup and that is very important here because it is such a fast track, that you need to get it right otherwise one second can mean a lot of positions.


Fifth in free practice and then sixth in timed gave me a good platform and I knew that a strong start would give me a chance. I came out third around the first corner and almost made it into second but in the I settled into a good pace and rode my own race. It was a shame to get passed near the end but overall, a very good day and I am excited to do even better tomorrow.         

    
       
    
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager - MXGP


We are all very happy with Ruben’s performance. It is never easy to start on a new team, and especially with a big crowd supporting him, he could easily have been nervous, but he was calm and relaxed and just went out and rode really well.


The fourth place not only gives him the seven points for the championship, but also fourth gate pick for the two races tomorrow so we are going to work hard to make sure he can go out there and repeat the result from today.         

    
       
    
Qualifying Race


1    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing    GasGas    24:48.237
2    GUADAGNINI Mattia     101    ITA    Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddii    Husqvarna    0:03.560
3    RENAUX Maxime     959    FRA    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:06.119
4    FERNANDEZ Ruben     70    SPA    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    0:08.260
5    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki    0:18.953
6    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    0:23.466
7    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:25.777
8    JONASS Pauls     41    LAT    Standing Construct Honda MXGP    Honda    0:28.282
9    GUILLOD Valentin     92    SWI    Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz    Honda    0:29.357
10    HERLINGS Jeffrey     84    NDL    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    0:40.269
11    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    Standing Construct Honda MXGP    Honda    0:46.140
12    PATUREL Benoit     6    FRA    Wildcard Rider    Yamaha    0:47.102
13    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    MRT Racing Team Beta    Beta    0:50.105
14    VAN DONINCK Brent     32    BEL    JM Honda Racing    Honda    1:01.493
15    FORATO Alberto     303    ITA    SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery    KTM    1:13.956
16    LUPINO Alessandro     77    ITA    MRT Racing Team Beta    Beta    1:37.119
17    EVANS Mitch     43    AUS    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    Kawasaki    1:43.619
18    POLI Augustin     198    ARG    Wildcard Rider    Husqvarna    1:47.807
19    ROOSIORG Hardi     75    EST    JWR Honda Racing    Honda    1:58.422
20    VAN BERKEL Lars     107    NDL    Wildcard Rider    Honda    1 Lap
    
    
    

    
    
    
Team HRC - MXGP, also photos