Fernandez, 25, held his nerve to clinch the Moto2 title from Ai Ogura eventually yr’s Valencia finale throughout his first and solely season at Crimson Bull KTM Ajo.
However it has been removed from a simple journey to the highest for the Spaniard, who was anticipated to battle for the title when he joined reigning world champion Marc VDS on the again of three wins for Pons in 2019.
As an alternative, Fernandez plummeted to thirteenth within the 2020 standings. 2021 then began with 4 non-scores from eight races, however Fernandez rebuilt his type within the second half, when six podiums pulled him as much as fifth within the standings and caught the attention of Ajo.
Fernandez has been ranked twenty second in each of his MotoGP outings so far, at Valencia final November after which Sepang in February, however left Malaysia inside 0.9s of skilled team-mate Pol Espargaro.
“Nicely, I am leaping into MotoGP with this confidence of being a world champion and it is good however actually I do not know what to anticipate when it comes to positions,” he mentioned.
“I am wanting ahead to being aggressive quickly and making an attempt to be within the battle with my team-mate.”
There may be at all times strain to ship in MotoGP however maybe particularly so for Fernandez, given KTM has cleared out the Tech3 rider line-up twice within the final two years and former Moto2 team-mate Pedro Acosta is taken into account a ‘when’ not ‘if’ for a future RC16 seat.
“I feel I’m going through an important yr of my profession however I do know I should be affected person,” mentioned Fernandez, who is known to have a one-year KTM contract with an choice for 2024.
“I’m discovering every little thing that it means to be a MotoGP rider, a manufacturing unit rider.
“However it’s good to see how many individuals you may have behind you and never simply your workforce; the entire manufacturing unit that’s ready for you and your outcomes.
“Portugal is coming quickly and I am actually wanting ahead to it and it is a dream come true: my debut in MotoGP. I actually cannot wait.”
The ultimate MotoGP pre-season check takes place at Portimao subsequent weekend, with Fernandez’s first premier-class race set to be the Saturday dash on March 25.