Johan Stigefelt is Razlan Razali's field man, meaning he represents the powerful Petronas colors in the paddock. From Moto3 to MotoGP, including Moto2, his area of expertise is vast and he is on the front line on the sensitive issue of the arrival of Valentino Rossi in 2021. The Doctor will succeed Fabio Quartararo who will join Maverick Viñales within the Yamaha factory team. But before that, there is a 2020 campaign to run. The opportunity to leave the structure that revealed it with your head held high, through the front door, and, why not, with the highest of rewards. But before getting there, there is a step to take…
At Petronas, we are both happy to have updated the talent of fabio quartararo but also a little frustrated to have been so right. Because Yamaha quickly got hold of the Frenchman to install him in his own stable in 2021, and until 2022. Johan Stigefelt who was at the forefront of these events says: “ Fabio represents something very special to us. When we hired him, we never imagined he could achieve the results he did. No one expected that with a lower specification bike than other Yamaha riders, he could go so hard in his first season in MotoGP ».
« In my opinion, he did something incredible and I'm sorry that the season in which we say goodbye will be so strange. In the tests it was very strong, we were full of expectations and we would have liked to spend a normal season together. We will have to adapt and do our best in this second and final season together, maybe by winning the races and then we'll see » complete Stigefelt.
With this last remark, we note that there is a final milestone to pass, before moving on to another, final… “ Marc Marquez was almost unbeatable in 2019. If you can beat him, that means you can win the world championship. Dovizioso beat him, so it's doable. I think Fabio will have to try to be consistent and try to win his first race. I am confident that after winning the first race he will click the missing click to be able to beat him in the world championship and I am sure that step will come this year ».
“We aim to win the world championship with Fabio”
To achieve this, the French will have the necessary means: “ we are a satellite team and not the official Yamaha team. At this moment it is certain that with Quartararo we will leave for Jerez with a bike identical to those of Viñales and Rossi. Then there will be some developments, also for Fabio, during the season. As for the future, I must remind that there will be no new developments for 2021 »Comments Stigefelt in an interview on the site GP One.
He finishes, in no way hiding the high ambitions of his colors Petronas : " we aim to win the world championship with Fabio. This is our goal and he is very motivated. At the moment he feels calm, he has a bike that he likes, he has confidence, much more than in 2019. The world championship will start in Jerez, a track on which he is very fast and I am convinced that he will already be a challenger for the title this season. The goal is always to win. Our idea is to beat the Yamaha factory team, last year we came close. We also have to remember that we also race in Moto2 and Moto3 and also in these categories we race to win ". See you this weekend at Jerez !
