MotoGP / KTM, Raul Fernandez armored last summer | FormulaPassion.it

Tied to KTM in Moto3, Raul Fernandez has shown clear growth in a few seasons and what he saw in Moto2 in the year of his debut in 2021, quickly highlighted him as one of the most talented riders in the paddock. The 21-year-old from Madrid in the intermediate class managed to fight for the title – then went to his teammate Remy Gardner – until the last world round, adding up well eight wins and seven pole positions. It is no mystery that during the summer the Petronas Yamaha team – now RNF WithU – set its sights on Fernandez, so much so that it interfered with what appeared to be a discounted promotion of the rider to the Tech3 KTM team for the 2022 season. a possible agreement between the Malaysian team and the Castilian had become so insistent as to push KTM to communicate the boy’s engagement in a note released to the press during qualifying for the Red Bull Ring. The move had created a certain embarrassment within Tech3 for having formalized Fernandez even before having spoken to Petrucci and Lecuona, who learned of their exclusion from the team during a session on the track.

Pit Beirer, KTM motorsport number one, explained to Speedweek the difficult weeks lived with Raul Fernandez and his managers: “We had a one-sided option on Raul for 2022. But this option was not triggered automatically, it had to be exercised by the end of May. Which we did. But then a long discussion with Raul arose, why he didn’t want to go to MotoGP and he had given us the availability to stay with us anyway, but in Moto2“. In this particular situation there was then the change in attitude of Fernandez, who then asked to go up to the top class, but in the factory team, whose seats had already been occupied by Binder and Oliveira. From here a negotiation was born: “Last summer we signed a new agreement with Raul and his management“, Beirer confided, continuing: “It was like a second marriage, like reiterating the love oath between the parties. We didn’t like the rumors about talks with other teams and companies. But when you have to deal with four managers, the negotiations are not the easiest “.