Like his compatriot Karel Abraham, Jakub Kornfeil was thought to be heading towards early retirement, after the announcement in mid-January of his withdrawal from motorcycle competition due to economic problems, while in principle he had a contract to continue in 2020 with the BOE Skull Rider team.
This was without taking into account the consequences ofIannone affair, the Italian being replaced for the moment by Bradley Smith on the official RS-GP, which frees up a place in MotoE within the Malaysian structure WithU Motorsport, an offshoot of the Petronas team for which the Czech already rode during the 2015 and 2016 seasons in Moto3.
Jakub Kornfeil: “ I have no words to describe how I feel right now. I would like to thank the WithU Motorsport team for the opportunity they are giving me; to be honest, I wasn't expecting it at this time of year. I have already worked with some members of the team in the past and I am very happy to reunite with them and to be part of such a big family, with great drivers in all categories. I am ready to take on this new challenge and I will give the best of myself. »
« My first contact with the MotoE bike will be in Jerez during the week of the Spanish GP, so I will have to adapt quickly to a brand new bike and to competition. From now on I will train with big bikes to get used to the same size. My goal for 2020 is to improve day by day and ride faster every time I take to the track. I will work hard to meet all expectations and take advantage of this great opportunity. »
Matteo Ballarin, Team Director: “ It's certainly a very strange year for everyone, in many ways: WithU Motorsport will start the season with a new driver. We welcome Jakub [Kornfeil], a rider who has a lot of experience in the Moto3 World Championship and who we trust to achieve good results in MotoE. We have great support from our partners in the Czech Republic and I hope that together we can have a great year. Jakub will enter the first race at Jerez with very few laps under his belt on a MotoE, but it is a very young competition where few riders have raced yet. »
« Last year we saw that those who seemed strongest at the start of the year were not the champions at the end, which could happen in 2020 as well. We are facing a very busy calendar, with consecutive races on the same circuit (7 races on 3 circuits) and we end the season at Le Mans instead of Valencia. We also have teams reduced to two people. We will do our best to succeed. »
« As for Bradley Smith, I'm sad on the one hand, because I would have liked him to fight again for good results in MotoE. But on the other hand, I'm very happy for him. He has a great opportunity in MotoGP and I hope he achieves great results, and that we celebrate them together. »
