According to Motorsport.com Deutschland, Raul Fernandez turned a painful physical hurdle into a stunning podium appearance in Qatar, capturing third place after a weekend that proved his broken right index finger is finally behaving. The injury itself dates back to a start crash during the sprint in Mandalika, an incident immediately followed by a gritty ride to second place the very next day.
From there, the road got rocky. A painful sprint exit at Phillip Island forced him to sit out the Grand Prix, a cancellation saved only by poor weather, before a premature exit after opening practice in Sepang a week later. But Qatar told a completely different story. X-rays revealed that the bone in his finger had finally almost healed, leaving only some stubborn ligament restrictions behind. Fernandez even stuck to his guns by braking with just the one injured finger, explaining that shifting to two fingers robs him of his natural feel and reaction time.
At the beginning of the race, I didn't really do a good job because I couldn't save enough fuel to keep Marc behind me,
That healing body delivered right away. Qualifying his Trackhouse-Aprilia in fourth on the grid, he ran with the front group to finish fourth in the sprint, though a lack of top speed on the straight left him visibly frustrated. When Sunday rolled around, a brilliant start launched him straight into second place right behind Aprilia stablemate Marco Bezzecchi.
Unfortunately, running in that slipstream had a cost. Fuel consumption forced Fernandez onto a leaner mapping early on, creating a massive handicap for the second half of the race. That opened the door for Marc Marquez on his Ducati, who reeled him in and made the pass stick. "At the beginning of the race, I didn't really do a good job because I couldn't save enough fuel to keep Marc behind me," Fernandez explained.
Even so, clinging to Marquez to fight until the end brought him home in third. It marks his sixth podium finish of the season, a result he genuinely didn't expect coming into the weekend with an uncertain finger. Best of all, the 22-lap distance passed without the severe pain that plagued him in Malaysia, proving that once the visor goes down, the machine and the rider are simply locked in. "When I'm on the track, I just don't think about it," he said.
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