During the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Misano a press conference was held with representatives of the independent teams. They included Paolo Campinoti, Team Principal of Pramac Racing, Lucio Cecchinello, Team Manager of LCR Honda, Carlo Merlini, Sales and Marketing Director of Gresini Racing, Hervé Poncharal, Team Manager of Tech3 KTM Factory Racing, Razlan Razali, Team Principal of Petronas Yamaha SRT, and Paul Grandson, Team Manager of SKY VR46 Racing Team.
As with all official press conferences, this one was divided between questions from Dorna Sports host Steve Day and those from the journalists.
Regarding Razlan Razali, the first question from the panel of press representatives concerned the planned absence of Johan Stigefelt of the RNF Racing MotoGP structure which will align Andrea Dovizioso et Darryn binder on Yamahas, after the departure of Petronas as title sponsor of a team which will soon be British.
Razlan Razali : “Overall, the team remains the same, especially on the Dovi side of the box. Of course, on Darryn's side, all the Valentino guys will be leaving except two and we have hired some interesting profiles for the team leader and data manager positions. In terms of management, yes, there is a change: We have reached the point where the two parties, Johan and myself, will take two different directions. But under the leadership of Wilco (Zeelenberg) as team manager and myself as team principal, I think the structure will remain more or less 90% as it has been for the last three years.
The last three years we have been a team of over 60 people. So of course, with the changes in the team, we couldn't continue in Moto3 and Moto2, so our squad was reduced by almost half. I believe we will have 29 members on the team next year. Johan's main role was to oversee Moto2 and Moto3, so as we will only be in MotoGP next year, we made the decision, or I made the decision that we can manage that with Wilco and I - same, and we reached a mutual agreement with Johan to go in different directions. »
The explanation is clear and has the merit of not washing dirty linen in public. The reality is a financial disagreement born from a complex organization of the Petronas Yamaha SRT structure, Razlan Razali owning both places in MotoGP but Johan Stigefelt signing a number of contracts through his hometown-based company “One Performance”. On the occasion of the creation of a new company in charge of managing the future RNF team, the two men were unable to reach an agreement and the tensions that appeared in Aragón quickly transformed into a rupture at Misano-1 . Everyone will follow their own path, Razlan Razali in MotoGP, Johan Stigefelt we do not know…
As a reminder, Johan Stigefelt is a former Swedish rider who debuted in Grands Prix in 1997, racing in the 250cc class until 2000. In 2001, he completed his only season in the premier class on the Saber 500cc, finishing twenty-second overall.
After two more seasons in the 250cc category, the Anderstorp native moved to the Supersport World Championship in 2005, the year he founded the Stiggy Racing team. He finished eighth in 2006 and persevered in Supersport and Superbike until 2009.
He then more or less disappeared from the circuits but returned at the end of 2011, with the role of director of the Moto3 RW Racing GP team. He finished 2nd in 2012 with louis salom.
He then took the reins of the Caterham Racing Moto2 team for the 2014 season and concluded the championship in sixth position with Johann zarco.
After the disappearance of Air Asia from the circuits, he was chosen by
Razlan Razali to manage the new Moto3 team at Sepang International Circuit known as SIC Racing Team.
It is therefore a 7-year collaboration which will end on the evening of the Valencia Grand Prix for the 45-year-old ex-driver…
We have no information regarding his future.
