2018 FIM MOTO3 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPION
FERNANDEZ TAKES FAST TRACK TO THE TOP
Raùl Fernàndez (KTM) was crowned as the FIM Moto3 Junior World Champion before a wheel was even turned at the final round of the season in Valencia, with his only title rival Manuel Pagliani (Honda) forced to withdraw. However, the odds were already heavily stacked in the favour of the Spanish youngster, who went into the final two races of the campaign needing just two points to wrap up an outstanding championship.
After conceding victory by just 0.199 seconds to Pagliani (Honda) in the opening round at Estoril, the Spaniard claimed a fourth place and a win in the two-race second round at Valencia to take a championship lead that he would not relinquish for the remainder of the season. Two further victories – at Aragón and Albacete - and a total of six podiums put Fernàndez in the perfect position to lift the title before he moves up to the FIM Moto3 World Championship next season, having already impressed at Grand Prix level in 2018 with several points-scoring rides as a wildcard.
Fernàndez only started racing minibikes in 2011 before being nurtured by the Cuna de Campeones youth development system and progressing quickly to the Moto3 Spanish Championship. In 2015 he entered four rounds at national level, taking two wins, three second places and a fourth, and made his international debut in the Red Bull Rookies Cup. In 2016 he took two wins and six podiums in the youth series and after a difficult season riding a Mahindra in the FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship in 2017, he switched to a KTM for 2018 and emerged as one of the brightest talents in Circuit Racing.
PALMARES
World title – 2018
