Yonny Hernández, a Colombian talent in Moto2

The private test last week at the Circuit de Catalunya offered a first sighting in action of Blusens-STX rider pairing Yonny Hérnandez (Colombian) and Mashel Al Naimi (Qatari) on board their Moto2 machines.

Both taking to the track on Thursday, Hernández showed immediate ability with his prototype, posting the second-fastest time of the day just two-tenths of a second off the quickest lap. Creating great interest at the Barcelona circuit, Hernández explained his career to date and his expectations for the forthcoming Moto2 season to motogp.com.

“I started in 2003 in Colombia, racing in motocross,” said Hernández. “I raced for five or six years in the Latin-American Motocross Championship and then moved to supermotard: I was national champion in this discipline in my country. For the 2008 season I came to Spain looking for a future and did very well in supermotard – I had four races in the Spanish Championship in which I finished third in my first year.”

From there, Hernández moved on to the Supersport category of the CEV Buckler (Spanish National Championship) where he rode a Suzuki GSXR600.

“I tried my luck in the Spanish National Championship and it went very well. In the first race I was on the podium, and this was my first contact with the Supersport” explained Hernández, who finished the 2009 season with four podiums in total and in fourth place overall. “This gave me confidence and now, thanks to the Colombian Motorcycling Federation, I am in the World Championship. Here I intend to adapt to the bike and do the best I can.”

Hernández then went on to discuss his experience at Montmeló, continuing: “On the first day I fell on my first lap, in the wet! We fixed the bike but could not collect much data. On Thursday I rode all day in the dry and it felt good. It was the first time I had contact with the bike and I was able to do 50 or 60 laps, and I felt really comfortable with the team and we moved forward. Let’s see how the next test in Valencia goes!”

Hernández believes his progress in the Moto2 World Championship will be gradual. He added: “I feel good, but I have to complete more kilometres on the bike. It’s a very strong World Championship and I want to learn the bike well and know the team, complete all the races and try to always give 100%. I want to improve and train hard to be the fastest, but everyone will be looking to be number one and it takes time and hard work. I do not want to rush – so far it has gone well but this is just the beginning.”