Now that the season is over, would Raul Fernandez reveal himself for who he is? Talented, he is without the slightest doubt, otherwise he would not be the first rookie in the history of the Moto2 category to have collected eight victories. It's better than Marc Marquez in his time. That is to say. But, humanly and relationally, it remains to be understood. Because in an interview, he has just shattered the outpourings and gestures of affection and respect seen during all these months of tough campaign waged against his own teammate in an atmosphere of astonishing cohesion maintained by the phlegmatic Aki Ajo. All this would have been nothing but window dressing to hear the Spaniard who has some pretty harsh words about his now former team. To meditate on the news...
Raul fernandez did not pull out all the stops against his team Garlic in which he completed his first and last season of Moto2. The illusion of a perfect world in the Finn's box was lifted by the Spaniard who still owes a lot to Aki Ajo since the days of Moto3. But this year 2021 marked the one who is now a pilot MotoGP within the Tech3 KTM team. With his teammate the one who beat him for the title of World Champion, Remy gardner.
Raul fernandez does not really blame the Australian, but he still diminishes his merits: “ morally, it was proven that I was the strongest pilot. I had the most wins, poles and the fastest laps. Rémy is world champion because he collected more points. But with my speed, I feel morally the champion ". And the legitimacy of Gardner to wear the crown is even more tarnished with this mention: “ as a world champion, of course, it's easy to say you've been smarter if you've been in this class for six years. No, he wasn't smarter ».
But then where was the difference made? Raul Fernandez answers frankly: within the team. He explains it this way on Motorsport-total, suggesting something like a conspiracy theory: “ the problem was that we had no one to guide us. This is why we don't have the crown. I was lucky to have a special group. But the problem was that we were very inexperienced ».
We can guess the silhouette ofAki Ajo in this resentment and it becomes even more evident with this precision: “ I was missing a hand to warn me before tripping over stones like I did when I was a child. A figure that guides us and helps us win, and not a person who puts obstacles in our path so that we do not succeed ».
Raul Fernandez: “you need people who believe in you and don't put obstacles in your way"
That last part is an accusation. But this is what he felt at a specific moment during the season: “ when we celebrated my victory in Austin, there were people in the stands who didn't applaud or say a word "Says Raul fernandez remembering that Gardner had fallen during this race. “ If you fight for your dream, you need people who believe in you and don't put obstacles in your way. ».
He finishes : " everyone can understand this as they want, but we know it. We sweated blood and water, we had difficulty. But I won't go into details. I am very satisfied with our year. We got along well and were in this together. Despite all the obstacles thrown at us, we won eight races as rookies. This has never been done before ».
The fact remains that this situation of tension would have been one of the reasons which motivated the opening of negotiations with Yamaha to get into MotoGP: “ I had difficult times during my Moto2 year because people didn't believe in me. So I had doubts about the brand, but ultimately we are getting closer to KTM. I am very motivated ". Especially since KTM acceded to his wish to see his younger brother also at Tech3, Moto3 version…
