Second place for Fernandez gives Spain pole, with Gajser also second

Team HRC's Ruben Fernandez put in a great performance in the Open class qualification race to give Team Spain first gate-pick for the tomorrow's main races at the 2024 Motocross of Nations. The Honda CRF450R rider rocketed out of the gate, taking the early lead before settling into second position and giving Spain a three-point total and first position overall.

With the Matterley Basin track in pristine condition, the long morning practice session gave the riders plenty of chance to test setups and find the right settings for optimal performance, and with Fernandez already putting in the second-fastest time during that session, things were looking good early on. He then carried that through the qualification race and with his teammates also putting in good results, Spain are looking very strong for the races that decide who takes the Chamberlain Trophy.

Teammate Tim Gajser was also performing well in the MXGP class for Slovenian, mirroring Fernandez's results by having the second place in free practice before placing second in the qualification race and helping Slovenian to seventh place for tomorrow's motos. Despite having a low gate-pick due to the ballot yesterday, Gajser also stormed out of the gate and narrowly missed out on leading the race from the opening few turns. Placing second, he attempted to pass the leader but wasn't able to make the necessary move and instead the pair pulled a big gap on the rest of the field as he received the chequered flag.

Tomorrow, the races are mixed-classes with the first moto being the MXGP class and the MX2 riders lining up together, then it is the MX2 and the Open class before the deciding moto is the MXGP and the Open class. With two riders per country in each race, the top five scores are then taken from the six results and the lowest points tally decides who wins this prestigious competition.

With Spain never having been on the podium before, and Slovenian having a best ever finish of ninth, both countries stand a really good chance of beating those efforts, and if they do, it will no doubt be down to the excellent performances of Fernandez and Gajser.

Also featuring were the Honda HRC riders Hunter (MXGP) and Jett Lawrence (Open), who finished fourth and first respectively, helping Australia to third gate-pick and also giving them a real chance of their first ever victory. Japanese duo Haruki Yokoyama (MX2) and Yuki Okura (Open) narrowly missed out on the A-Final qualification, but they have a second-chance tomorrow in the B-Final where the winners take the last place on the grid.

MXGP Qualification Race

1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 24:12.517; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:05.630; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:21.471; 4. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Honda), +0:23.964; 5. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:25.547; 6. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:31.869; 7. Eli Tomac (USA, Yamaha), +0:38.105; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:46.176; 9. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +1:04.284; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +1:05.276;

MX2 Qualification Race

1. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 24:42.952; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:09.653; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:16.742; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Yamaha), +0:22.311; 5. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:26.730; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:42.113; 7. Cooper Webb (USA, Yamaha), +0:47.414; 8. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:47.931; 9. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:58.805; 10. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:58.966;

Open Qualification Race

1. Jett Lawrence (AUS, Honda), 25:03.375; 2. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:06.145; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:24.348; 4. Conrad Mewse (GBR, Honda), +0:38.368; 5. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:45.036; 6. Aaron Plessinger (USA, KTM), +0:46.068; 7. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, KTM), +0:56.545; 8. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:58.669; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +1:00.169; 10. Fabio Aparecido dos Santos (BRA, Yamaha), +1:04.762;

Tim Gajser  243

It was a good day for me and for Slovenia. I really like this Matterley Basin track and although it was a tough challenge today, I still felt good and enjoyed riding. Hopefully I can do even better tomorrow but I'm excited for the motos and really happy with how we qualified and the effort shown by everyone. It'd be great to finish this season on a real high, and that's what we're aiming for.

Ruben Fernandez  70

I've been looking forward to this race all year, because it gives me a chance to help Spain and get on the podium. All three of us did really well today and if we can do the same again tomorrow, I think we'll definitely be in with a chance of not just standing on the podium, but possibly on the top step. Still, there is a lot of work to do and today was only qualification, so I don't want to get ahead of myself but it is definitely an enjoyable day.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager – MXGP

Tim and Ruben both showed their strength today, putting in a pair of second place finishes and both riding really well. The MXON is always a slightly different event because they are riding for their countries, so there is a bit more to deal with but our team are used to it and still went out and did an excellent job. With the Lawrence's also riding well, I think we showed the real strength of the Honda CRF450R and we'll be hoping to show the same again tomorrow.

@shotbybavo