Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing rider, has expressed frustration about his mid-season bike change this season, as he opts to avoid a similar scenario in the future.

Fernandez began the season with the older-spec Aprilia, constrained by production limitations, which also led to limited availability of its upgraded bike. However, it wasn’t until after the summer break at Silverstone that Fernandez received the latest version of the bike. Yet, according to MotoGP’s homologation rules, he had to continue using the 2023-spec engine.

The 2024 Aprilia represented a significant change from its predecessor. With limited testing opportunities—only a single day at Misano—Fernandez struggled to adapt to the updated bike during the second half of the season. While Aprilia was praised for equipping all four of its riders with similar bikes, Fernandez believes that introducing the new bike mid-season negatively impacted his performance.

“I don’t want to go through this again in the coming years—or ever,” Fernandez said. “It’s really tough to change an entire bike mid-season. Small adjustments are fine, but this was a completely different bike. It required significant changes, including adapting my riding style. It doesn’t help us.”

Despite the challenges, Fernandez managed to show promise on his 2023-spec bike, qualifying on the front row at Barcelona and Sachsenring. His efforts earned him a new two-year contract, securing his place at Trackhouse Racing until the end of 2026. However, inconsistency in Sunday races left him trailing behind his teammate Miguel Oliveira by one position, even though Oliveira missed five races due to injury.

Reflecting on his third season, he admitted: “Overall, it was extremely challenging. We didn’t make much progress. We tested a lot, but we lacked time to focus on ourselves. Instead, we concentrated on improving the overall project and understanding various aspects. I tried many things with last year’s bike, but ultimately, I couldn’t benefit from those changes. That’s the frustrating part.”