Augusto Fernandez Has “Nothing to Lose” in Second Half of MotoGP 2024

Augusto Fernandez’ debut MotoGP campaign was promising. There were few standout results, although a fourth place in Le Mans was a clear highlight, but the 2022 Moto2 World Champion put together a solid debut campaign, something to build on in 2024.

However, it’s not gone like that. Instead, Pedro Acosta has arrived to steal the limelight within not only the GasGas Tech3 team, but the whole Pierer Mobility Group MotoGP setup, and perhaps even the Group’s racing programme as a whole.

Meanwhile, Fernandez has struggled from the outset of the year, even in preseason testing where he and his team failed to find a base setting that he’s comfortable with. After the first nine races of 2024, Fernandez lies 17th in the riders’ standings, 20 points behind the third-best of the four KTM riders, Jack Miller, and 95 points behind his teammate, Acosta.

“For the moment, in all the year we haven’t been fast,” Fernandez bluntly concluded when speaking to Visordown, reflecting on his 2024 season to-date, before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Although he refuses to call it “an excuse”, the #37’s struggles are compounded by MotoGP’s intense format, which sees riders in ‘time attack mode’ from Friday afternoon. “When you don’t have the speed, like me, in my situation — we missed our base, and we missed a lot of work that we didn’t complete, let’s say — it’s difficult to perform straight away in FP1 like you have to in this format.”

The limited chances to improve during the season means that Fernandez is still paying for failing to find a base setting in MotoGP’s two preseason tests: three days in Sepang, and two more in Lusail.

“It comes from not finding a base from preseason, and now every time we go on track it’s like not knowing what is going to happen or not knowing where we are going to be. It’s been difficult to find the base for some reason.”

Last summer, KTM introduced the first iteration of its carbon chassis, which Crash.net reported in July is, according to Jack Miller, still now in its original specification. Fernandez got his first taste of KTM’s carbon chassis at this year’s Sepang test.

“It was a change because it is different,” Fernandez said, having ridden KTM’s more traditional — for itself — steel frame throughout 2023. “ The way the bike performs, or the way the bike behaves, is different.”

The lack of development, at least in terms of the specification of the chassis that is being brought to the races, is of little concern to Fernandez, though. “As you can imagine, the one who performs the most will receive the [updates] earlier than the rest, and I 100 per cent agree with that, because the one who deserves it will get it.

“I’ve been fighting with my package, with the first package I received, that I’m still not riding comfortably with. Pedro [Acosta] immediately was fast with it and for sure maybe we are struggling a little bit more with our bike compared to the beginning, [but] also we can see Pedro and Brad [Binder] that even at the beginning they were fighting for podiums — now it seems like they are struggling a little bit more.”

Instead, Fernandez’ primary concern is his performance in the present moment. “My fight is to recover my level and be closer to the rest of the KTM guys for the moment," he said. "I’m not performing like them, so first I need to perform like them and then see where we are, if we can fight for podiums, but my goal now is to be back with them, have the same speed at least, and then we can see.”

The importance of immediate improvement for Fernandez is exaggerated by his current contractual situation. His GasGas deal expires at the end of this year, and the Tech3 team has already confirmed a line-up of Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini for 2025, while Binder will be joined by Acosta in the factory KTM team.

Fernandez insisted, as he generally has done this year, that returning to Moto2 is not a consideration for him. “I hear everything,” he said. “My manager is sitting with everyone and hearing everything, every offer, but, yeah, Moto2 is not my priority.”

Instead, keeping the few remaining MotoGP options — such as a Pramac Yamaha seat, or the place next to Raul Fernandez in the Trackhouse Aprilia team — open to him.

“It’s not easy but I want to finish all the opportunities that I can have here in MotoGP that are not so many. For the moment, the last thing to do is go back to Moto2.”

With MotoGP opportunities running out, Fernandez also has his eye on WorldSBK.

“It would be let’s say my second choice or my second priority, let’s say, even before Moto2,” Fernandez said. “Because I’m still young (26, and 27 on 23 September), and I know I still have a lot to do in this world.

“Superbike is not the end of the world, there’s a career there, people having fun and enjoying racing there which is what we’re looking for, also.

“It’s been a tough year in MotoGP, for sure I know I have a lot more to do here in MotoGP, but as I said [Superbike] is not the end of the world and if there is a good bike in Superbike I will take it.”

Although options are open, Fernandez confessed that “I’m in the worst situation I can be, like I’m kind of out of MotoGP.” This brings an odd liberation, though. “Now I just focus on jumping on the bike and making the most of every minute I’m on track. Like, there’s nothing to lose, I don’t really care.”

Fernandez’ situation is one experienced in 2023 by Fabio Di Giannantonio, who came to Silverstone with his MotoGP career looking to be almost certainly over by the end of the season. But he began to improve in the second half of the year, won the Qatar Grand Prix, and signed for the VR46 Ducati team to replace Luca Marini, who moved to Honda.

“We never lose the faith,” Fernandez said, assuring that there is inspiration to be taken from Di Giannantonio’s 2023 turnaround, which has carried over into 2024. “In this world, your value is what you do in the last race, so everything can turn around with a race. That’s why I want to keep pushing, keep trying everything, take every opportunity that’s left, I want to take it.”