Rubén Fernández (motocross racer)
| Rubén Fernández | |
|---|---|
 Fernández in 2022 | |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Born | 21 February 1999 Vigo, Spain |
| Current team | Team HRC |
| Bike number | 70 |
Rubén Fernández García (born 21 February 1999)[1] is a Spanish professional Motocross racer.
Fernández currently competes for Honda's factory team, known as Team HRC, in the MXGP class of the FIM Motocross World Championship.[2] He won the 2023 MXGP of Argentina, the opening round of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship season.
He has represented Spain three times at the Motocross des Nations.
Fernández is a two time Spanish Motocross Champion in the Elite-MX2 class.
He is the son of 'Paco' Fernández, a former national level motocross racer, and the younger brother of Francisco and Sergio Fernández, who are also motocross racers.
Career
[edit]After a successful junior career in Spain, where he became back-to-back 85cc national champion followed by becoming back-to-back 125cc national champion, he made his debut in the EMX125 class of the European Motocross Championship in 2015.
MX2
[edit]Fernández moved into the EMX250 class of the European Motocross Championship in 2016, finishing eleventh overall with a best race finish of fourth in the last race of the year. He achieved his best overall result in the EMX250 championship in 2017 by finishing third in the final standings, collecting several podiums along the way. In addition, he competed in three rounds of the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship in the MX2 class, scoring points in all three rounds.
Staying with the F&H Kawasaki team, he transitioned to the MX2 class for the 2018 FIM Motocross World Championship but endured a tough year, which saw him split with the team before the end of the season.[3] In 2019, Fernández stepped back from world championship level racing and signed with the Italian SDM Corse Yamaha team to focus on the EMX250 class of the 2019 European Motocross Championship.[4] A second place in the first race was the highlight of an injury hit campaign that saw him miss three rounds. For the COVID-19 hit 2020 season, Fernández stayed with SDM Corse Yamaha team but returned to the MX2 class of the 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship. An impressive season with a third-place finish in race one in Latvia saw him finish ninth in the final standings. This was coupled with winning his first national title in the Elite-MX2 class of the Spanish Motocross Championship.
For 2021, Fernández signed for the Honda 114 Motorsports team.[5] He was able to make an immediate impact by achieving his first world championship podium, by finishing second overall at the opening round in Russia. He backed this up by finished third overall at the second round and would pick up a further three podiums on his way to ninth in the final world championship standings. However, for the final two rounds of the season, Fernández was signed by Team HRC to race in the MXGP class alongside title contender Tim Gajser.[6] He was able to finish fourth in his first race in the class and was able to finish sixth and eighth overall respectively across the two rounds. Domestically, Fernández was successful in defending his Elite-MX2 title, winning every race he finished along the way.[7]
MXGP
[edit]Following this, Fernández moved up to the MXGP class full time for 2022.[8] He was able to pick up two overall podiums in his debut full season in the class, outperforming Team HRC rider Mitchell Evans and finishing eighth in the final standings. Fernández represented Spain at the 2022 Motocross des Nations, helping his country to its joint second best result ever.
Fernández was signed by Honda's factory team, Team HRC, for the 2023 season.[9] At the opening round of the season, he was able to win both his first race win and first overall win at world championship level. A further three podiums were picked up during the rest of the season to contribute to him finishing fifth in the final standings. He had his second appearance at the Motocross des Nations for Spain following this, where the nation finished seventh overall. At crash on the first corner of qualifying race at the opening round of the 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship with several other riders saw Fernández sustain a torn ACL.[10] The lengthy recover required meant that he was unable to return until the seventeenth round of the season. His best overall result over the last four rounds was a fourth overall in China. At the end of the year, he competed for his country at the 2024 Motocross des Nations, helping his country to finish fourth in the final standings. His personal results saw him finish third in the Open class.
Honours
[edit]European Motocross Championship
- EMX250: 2017
Spanish Motocross Championship
Spanish Motocross Cup
- MX125: 2013 & 2014
Career statistics
[edit]Motocross des Nations
[edit]| Year | Location | Nation | Class | Teammates | Team Overall | Individual Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 |  Red Bud
|
 ESP
|
Open | Jorge Prado Guillem Farres |
6th | 4th |
| 2023 |  Ernée
|
ESP
|
Open | Jorge Prado Oriol Oliver |
7th | 7th |
| 2024 |  Matterley Basin
|
ESP
|
Open | Jorge Prado Oriol Oliver |
4th | 3rd |
FIM Motocross World Championship
[edit]By season
[edit]| Season | Class | Number | Motorcycle | Team | Race | Race Wins | Overall Wins | Race Top-3 | Overall Podium | Pts | Plcd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | MX2 | 76 | Kawasaki | F&H Racing Team | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 40th |
| 2018 | MX2 | 70 | Kawasaki | F&H Racing Team | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85 | 24th |
| 2B1 Motorsports | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Yamaha | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 2020 | MX2 | 70 | Yamaha | SDM Corse Yamaha Racing | 35 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 343 | 9th |
| 2021 | MX2 | 70 | Honda | Honda 114 Motorsports | 29 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 404 | 9th |
| MXGP | Team HRC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 26th | |||
| 2022 | MXGP | 70 | Honda | Honda 114 Motorsports | 31 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 382 | 8th |
| 2023 | MXGP | 70 | Honda | Team HRC | 37 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 654 | 5th |
| 2024 | MXGP | 70 | Honda | Team HRC | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104 | 23rd |
| Total | 169 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 11 | 2045 |
Grand Prix Wins
[edit]| GP wins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amount of GP-wins | Date | Grand Prix | Place | ||||||
| MXGP-class | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 March 2023 | Argentina | Villa La Angostura | ||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "Rubén Fernández Bio". mxgp.com. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ "News: Team HRC In 2023". Lewis Phillips. mxvice.com. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ "Fernandez and F&H Kawasaki split!". gatedrop.com. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ "Rubén Fernández will race in the EMX250 with the SDM Corse Yamaha". moto1pro.com. 19 October 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ "114 Honda – MX2 Changes". mxlarge.com. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ "RUBEN FERNANDEZ TO RACE MXGP CLASS FOR FINAL TWO ROUNDS OF CHAMPIONSHIP". Mitch Kendra & Press Release. racerxonline.com. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ "Rubén Fernández revalida su título de campeón de España". La Voz de Galicia. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ "Ruben Fernández jumps to the MXGP; Team Honda 114 Motorsports sets 'weapons' for 2022". Fábio Fialho. motorcyclesports.net. 27 December 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ "HRC Signs Contracts With Tim Gajser and Ruben Fernandez". Press Release. cyclenews.com. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ "Ruben Fernandez OUT with ACL INJURY!". themxnetwork.com. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.