Beñat Fernandez: Stepping to the Moto3 World Championship, taking nothing for granted

Over such period, the Spanish rider has gone from surprising everyone (including himself) in his first races in the Supersport 300 World Championship, to becoming the WorldSSP300 Champion in 2025 and winning the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in 2026. Such achievements secured him a place in the Moto3 World Championship for the following year, with the LevelUp MTA team. Along the way, he also experienced an extremely difficult season in the Sportbike World Championship, where he and the Kove Racing Team 109 scored just two top-10 finishes with a bike that was inferior compared to the rest of the field. In the same year, however, "Pelontxu" managed to win the Rookies Cup, also thanks to three race wins, and so he earned his ticket to the MotoGP paddock.

Palmen in Motorradsport interviewed Beñat Fernández back in May 2025 (read the article here), when he was just starting out in both the Rookies Cup and World Supersport 300. And I was more than happy to sit with him again at the end of the 2026 season, to talk about what's happened between the two chats we have had.

Beñat, how do you feel after winning the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup? Did you expect it at the beginning of the season?

I'm absolutely delighted. And to be honest no, I didn't expect it. I knew I could be in the front, because the riders who finished ahead of me in 2025 would all be moving up to the Moto3 World Championship. However, there were other strong riders on the field as well, and I wasn't sure I could win. I'm really happy that I made it happen.

You have also secured a place in the Moto3 World Championship for 2027, with the LevelUp MTA team. How does it feel?

F*ck, it's an incredible feeling! I've always wanted to compete against the best in the world and to be in the same paddock as Marc Márquez and all the other champions in MotoGP. Ultimately, that was the path I wanted to follow. I had to take a slightly different route to get there (he never competed in a full season of the Moto3 Junior World Championship, ed), but in the end I'll finally be in the MotoGP paddock. I can't wait to get started!

What are your expectations for this new chapter of your career?

I actually have no expectations. I think that's the best approach. If you set any concrete goals, you may end up feeling discouraged or upset if you don't meet them. My only goal is to improve, give my best and always try to take another step forward. Anyway, it will be difficult: I've had very little experience on a Moto3 bike, having only competed in two rounds of the Moto3 Junior World Championship in 2025 with the Eagle-1 team (he also raced at Barcelona in 2026 with the IgaX Snipers Team, but it was on a Honda, ed). Still I was fast, because I finished inside the top 10 at Aragón, behind riders like Brian Uriarte but ahead of others such as Giulio Pugliese and Leo Rammerstorfer, who have performed quite well in the Junior World Championship. If I managed to be faster than them with far fewer laps on a Moto3 bike, I could make good progress in the world championship too.

On the other hand, your season in the Sportbike World Championship was much more complicated. How did you live that?

It was a very, very frustrating season. I don't get angry because it's nobody's fault, neither Kove's, nor the team's, nor anyone else's. At the end of the day, the bike was designed for a specific championship, and it isn't fair that we had to compete with a bike that was clearly inferior to the others. The bike had a limit, and I reached it quite early during the season, not being able to do anything more in the following races. To give you an idea, if the 450cc machine by Kove is at level 50, the other bikes are at level 90.

If I managed to partially hide that gap at certain circuits, it was because many riders on other bikes hadn't reached their limit yet. For example, at Cremona, towards the end of the season, I was already at my limit, nearly crashing at every corner, but I still couldn't achieve any good result. This was also because the riders who had been further back had made a step forward. Once the riders who hadn't yet reached the limit of their bikes started improving, everything became even more difficult for us.

In any case, since I already had everything sorted out for 2027, I approached the WorldSPB races with the aim of training, giving my best, continuing to grow and gaining experience.

If someone had told you that you would face such a hard season, after becoming the 2025 Supersport 300 World Champion, would you have believed them?

Definitely. I don't even want to blame the championship, because it's very difficult to come up with good regulations, and it's difficult for a manufacturer to choose a strong bike for a new championship as well. Moreover, it's hard for a team to get the most out of a bike's potential. For example, other Kawasaki teams weren't at the same level as Prodina or MTM. Ultimately, I don't blame anyone, because it's a combination of many different factors. If I stayed with the same team in 2026, it's because I feel like in a family there, and every single person has always taken good care of me in the pits.

Looking back at your WorldSSP300 title, did you expect it at the beginning of 2025?

I knew I could do well: Supersport 300 is a category that doesn't require being so talented, since the slipstream alone can help you gain a second and a half. But joining the series and winning at the very first round, setting two fastest laps at the second round, finishing second and third at the third round, taking a fourth place and one more win at the fourth round...No, I didn't expect any of that! Honestly, it was incredible and I would never have imagined anything like that, even though our bike was very strong. I never thought I would become World Champion straight away. But that's what happened! 

How did you celebrate?

I went to Ireland to visit our sponsors and saw lots of different places. I still have a trip to China to look forward to: I would like to meet the KOVE management, who made all of this possible. I can't thank them enough.

Going back to the two years you spent in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, how has this experience changed you as a rider and as a person?

I think I'm more aware of my speed and of what I'm capable of, even things I didn't believe I could do. Now I know I can win, fight at the front, show great progress and be competitive. Competing there has also made me much more mature, disciplined and aware of how important it is to work on my mindset and on myself, when I go out on track.

Let me explain: if I work together with my teammate, I can help him too, but I have to focus more on making progress myself. I don't go out on track just to give him a slipstream: I also try to find areas where I can improve. We have a limited amount of track time during a race weekend, so we must make the most of it. Away from the track, on the other hand, we need to prepare both our working method and our mindset as well as possible, so we can stay focused even when we're away from the circuit.

I guess you have learned that from your coach, Efrén Vázquez.

Yes, and from my sports psychologist, whose name is Javier Calduch (he works with Beñat and other world championship riders, such as Adrián Huertas, ed). Javier is a wonderful person who understands me and doesn't judge me when I tell him what's going through my mind. Together, we always try to find sense to everything. We also work on the areas where I need to improve, while also following the level of commitment I can take on and avoiding to put too much pressure on me. Since I started working with him, I've taken three steps forward, but really huge ones. Efrén, Javier and I have built a fantastic team.

Ultimately, riders like me are still young guys, and we aren't fully aware of what's at stake, because we're here to work and try to achieve a goal for the future. It's very easy to lose focus. Sometimes they put pressure on me, but they tell me it's necessary, so I keep quiet, put my head down and get to work.

To wrap things up, it's time for the "Thank You Moment". Who would you like to thank especially?

I want to thank Efrén very much, because he's the one who does the hard work when we go cycling and when it comes to me not losing focus. I'm very grateful to Efrén, to Javier and to my family. Even though sometimes I don't agree with what they tell me, I know my family always tries to help me in the best way they can. I'd also like to thank the Kove Racing Team 109, for everything we did in 2025 and for treating me so well. They gave me no worries and always paid attention to my needs.

Ultimately, though, as I wrote in the post announcing my move to the Moto3 World Championship, I want to sincerely thank everyone who has been part of my career up to this point, from my biggest sponsor all the way to my neighbour from the upper floor. Sometimes I go back to my neighbourhood and find people waiting to cheer me on and congratulate me. It also happens when I'm out on the street: people recognise me, stop me and congratulate me. These are things that I truly appreciate.

Palmen in Motorradsport would like to thank Beñat Fernández for his availability and wishes him all the best for his new adventure in the Moto3 World Championship.