The opening round of the MXGP championship in Argentina wasn’t the perfect start for Spanish rider, Ruben Fernandez. The HRC factory man had won in Argentina a couple of years ago and many saw him as a contender to do the same this year, but it didn’t go his way.

In the Saturday MXGP qualification race, Fernandez, picked up one point in ninth place, after battling through after an easy crash when in fifth, ruined his chance of fighting nearer the front of the pack. A fourth place in the timed practice was a better representation of his speed and he’ll be looking to show that off in the two GP-scoring races tomorrow.

"It was annoying to have that tip-over on the first lap, because I was well-placed and thought I could get a good number of points. Instead, the start will be tougher because I’ll be a bit further out, but I still feel like I can do well tomorrow. It is a very nice circuit that they’ve built here in Cordoba, and I’d love to give the fans something to cheer about."

On the Sunday, Fernandez struggled to get out of the gate in Argentina, getting caught up with a rider in the second turn in the second race and only being able to remount in dead last. The Spaniard did well to charge through to 13th place on a track that wasn’t easy to pass on, salvaging 10th overall after a solid ninth in the first moto. He’ll be hoping to put on a better showing at his home GP in Cozar, Spain next weekend.

"Not the day I was hoping for really," Fernandez said. "But I tried to come through and score as many points as possible in that second moto. I was right at the back of the field, and I think 30th after the first lap so to get to 13th is a good result, even if I wanted more before we came here. I know there is more to come and I will continue to fight to get nearer to those podium spots. Next up is Cozar, which is another Spanish-speaking round, so I’m happy to see all my fans there and hopefully get some better results."

Moving under the Team HRC awning is the culmination of many years of hard work for Fernandez. Working his way through the European and World Championship pyramid, the Spanish rider has consistently got better year on year and now he’s reached the very pinnacle of motocross, where he hopes to improve even further and start challenging for the highest honours in the sport.

He got off to the best possible start by winning his Team HRC debut at the MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina in 2023 and followed that up with numerous podiums as he ended up fifth in the championship battle. An injury at the very first round last year, meant that the Spaniard wasn’t able to show everyone his speed until the end of the season, but he progressively got better after his return and now is highly motivated to show everyone in 2025, what he can do when he’s fully fit.

Fernandez is a prime example where hard work pays off, not relying on just talent alone but consistently putting in the effort to improve in every aspect of the sport. In his early career he bounced around between teams and although he couldn’t always show his potential, there was always the belief that with the right guidance, he could mix it up with the very best riders in the world.

In 2021 that critical move came about, as he joined the Honda 114 Motorsports team, under the tutelage of Livia Lancelot and the watchful eye of Giacomo Gariboldi. The move soon paid off as he opened the season with consecutive podiums and gained the MX2 red-plate for the third round in Maggiora, Italy. Unfortunately, injuries midway through the year hampered his season but a great run at the triple-header in Trentino where he landed on the podium at all three rounds impressed the right people who believed his skill would translate well on a CRF450R. So, for the final triple he moved up to the MXGP class and right away he was challenging the top five positions.

Those results meant that the following year he rode in the MXGP class full-time, and once again, he rode impressively, getting podiums at Latvia and Indonesia. And it was his speed, along with his calm, personable nature which convinced Team HRC to sign him alongside Tim Gajser for the 2023 campaign.

Winning the opening round of the season was certainly the best possible way to repay that faith, taking the victory in Patagonia-Argentina in spectacular fashion. Podiums followed in Spain, Germany and Maggiora, giving him fifth overall in the championship and an excellent start to his Team HRC career.

Unfortunately things didn’t go his way in 2024 as a first-turn collision at the very first round saw him miss the majority of the rest of the campaign with a leg injury. When he did return, he gradually got better and better, and by the time we went to the season-finale Motocross of Nations, we saw what he was capable of with a couple of second place finishes.

Bavo Swijgers image