Impressive Moto3™ showing by Fenati to score 2nd position at Spanish Grand Prix

Husqvarna Motorcycles and the Sterilgarda Max Racing Team toasted their best race finish of the fledgling Moto3 world championship to-date when Romano Fenati finished runner-up at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto.

The Gran Premio Red Bull de España brought MotoGP™ back to speed for the fourth round of nineteen and the first of four events in Spain in 2021. The Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto has a long and distinguished history in the FIM series and is a popular testing venue. The compact mix of quick and arching corners and tighter prime overtaking spots meant a fine course for competition.

For the second year in a row Jerez missed the presence of fans and public but the circuit was a happy hunting ground for the Husqvarna Motorcycles duo on their FR 250 GP motorcycles: in 2020 Romano Fenati was part of the pack going for podium positions and is a previous winner at the site while Adrian Fernandez knows the track thanks to his emergence through contests like the FIM CEV Repsol Junior World Championship.

Fenati started from his best qualification ranking of the season so far: 5th and set from the second row. He was already looking to continue the upwards scale of his results to-date in 2021 with 11th, 10th, 7th on the board. The Italian was straight into a close and tense dispute for the lead and didn’t drop out of the top five for the duration of the race. On the final lap he was able to use his experience and held a tight line into the final Turn 13 hairpin and powered the FR 250 GP to 2nd place for his first podium trophy of the year.

Adrian Fernandez faced difficult odds. He had to deal with several Long Lap penalties and the loss of time kept him distant from the point-scoring positions. The youngster eventually reached the finish in 24th.

Fenati holds 4th in the championship standings while Moto3 rookie Fernandez is getting closer to registering his first Grand Prix points. The Sterilgarda Max Racing Team will now aim for further progression at Le Mans in France for round five on May 16th.

Romano Fenati: “Today the bike was fantastic. I lost a bit of time at the start of the race just through my style and trying to keep the gap with the others. By the end I was faster but there was quite a bit of wind and it was difficult to be alone at the front. It was easier to manage the race in the pack. The last corner here is always crazy! I’m really happy with the bike and now we have to continue like this with podium results and hopefully soon a win.”

Adrian Fernandez: “A difficult race with the long laps but I felt I was able to learn something from this whole weekend. I know what I need to do for France and now we’ll move onto the next challenge.”

Max Biaggi, Team Principal: “A superb race from Romano who had done a really good job already from qualification. He showed he has the skill and the mentality to make it happen over the race distance and be aggressive where he needs to be. The whole team did fantastic work to give him a bike that performed well. We hope to have him on this level for as many races as possible. Adrian had three long lap penalties and that didn’t help him achieve his goal of gaining more experience because he had a lonely race but at least he understands that he cannot make the same mistakes for the next GP.”

Results – 2021 Moto3 World Championship, Round 4

1. Pedro Acosta (KTM) 39:22.266, 2. Romano Fenati (Husqvarna) +0.417, 3. Jeremy Alcoba (Honda) +0.527, 24. Adrian Fernandez (Husqvarna) +46.228

World Championship standings

1. Pedro Acosta (KTM) 95pts; 2. Niccolo Antonelli (KTM) 44pts; 3. Andrea Migno (Honda) 42pts; 4. Romano Fenati (Husqvarna) 40 pts; 25. Adrian Fernandez (Husqvarna) 0 pts.