Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales helped secure an Aprilia 1-2 in second 𓆉practice, as both riders set new lap records at 🌌different times.  

But Fernandez was not in the same ballpark as he 👍could only manage 14th, meaning he’s the only Aprilia rider set to go through Q1 on Saturday.

• 2023 Indonesian MotoGP, Mandalika - Friday Prꩲactice Results 
• Espargaro fastest as lap record tumblesꦰ in Practice 2 at Mandalika

But the young Spaniard, who has been a top ten finisher in each of the last three grand prix’, feels he has what i✃t takes to match the likes of Espargaro and Vinales.

“It was notও really good,” said Fernandez when summing uღp day-one at Mandalika. “Since Barcelona I didn’t feel like this again on the bike. Today, I couldn’t ride like I wanted. 

“That is the reason I could not go fast. We tried but the problem is that, this weekend, we have a different tyre compound and we have very hard front tyres.&nb⛎sp;

“It’s quite difficult to work because sometimes we need to understand theℱ race tyre and what we have to do for th𝓀e direction we want to go in. 

“It's quite difficult som🥀etimes and for that re💯ason it was a tough day. I felt very good but when we put the soft tyre on it was like a disaster. 

“I couldn’t be fast and basically our bike has potential because I saw it. In the last races we saw that I hꦐave the factory rider level. I want to go there. 

“🉐It doesn’t matter if we’re in Q1 or not, the target is to go there. The target is to be close to the factory Aprilias.”

A problem throughout last year’s first-e🍰ver Indonesian MotoGP was the amount of available clean track.

Several riders either ♍had near-crashes - Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin were included in that - whil🍎e others went one step further by falling off their machines for simply being off line.

Fernandez said the grip is good at Mandalika but that the amount of clean track is💯 only 2 metres/2-and-a-half metres long.

The RNF rider added: “The problem is that the track, fo🔯r me, was good in terms of grip which was a nice surprise, but the problem is that the track is too dirty.&🔯nbsp;

“You ha�🐽�ve 2 metres or 2-and-a-half metres of good track and basically if you’re wide then you cannot enter the corner. 

“It’s too easy to make a mistake. For me the problem is not the grip on the track, but it’s because🍌 it is too dirty. If you go wide you𒉰 crash.”