Aprilia's announcement comes about the squad that will make up its new RNF satellite team and Raul Fernandez will be part of it. He will be the teammate of Miguel Oliveira who declined the last offer from KTM which offered him three years in good conditions within the Tech3 team to fly the colors of GASGAS. But as in the case of Raul Fernandez, the leaders of Mattighofen see that we can turn our backs on them.
It would already be for today and he is the boss of the RNF team Razlan Razali which even suggests it. On Monday, he slipped on his social network: “I'm looking forward to tomorrow's announcement.“, which therefore means today… In the meantime, Raul fernandez, which revealed itself under the colors KTM, but also suffered a lot during his rookie year in MotoGP, wrote: “ as you already know, KTM and I will separate at the end of the season ". Then he adds: “ I am very grateful for all the help they gave me, because they have been part of my career since the Red Bull Rookies Cup, when I started being part of this family ».
Raul Fernandez: “my heart will always have a portion of orange"
Raul fernandez finished : " in recent years we have had good times and difficult times, but above all years during which I learned a lot. I just want to say that my heart will always have a portion of orange, because they have been an important part of my life ". The exit is elegant and it also exudes a certain relief because the “difficult times” reported were enough to stop his career.
Because the path of Raul fernandez in MotoGP with KTM was fraught with pitfalls. The brand has always said that it would never employ a rider who did not want to race for it and yet that is exactly what it did with the 2021 Moto2 world runner-up. He did not want to go into the premier category with an RC16 and he had contacts with Razlan Razali for what was then a Yamaha Petronas. The men of KTM exercised their contractual option as soon as they learned of this approach, while Raul fernandez wanted to do one more year in Moto2 to free himself from his obligations with Mattighofen with a view to accessing MotoGP.
We know the rest. The season of Raul Fernandez is such an ordeal that the boss of KTM, Stefan pierer, did not spare those around him by distilling well-felt remarks in the public square. A long time, KTM blocked the Spaniard in the transfer market by reminding any interested team in the paddock that they would have to write a check for one million euros. A fine which was reduced to 300.000 euros at the Austrian Grand Prix. Which obviously allowed Raul fernandez to find a new refuge.
His current teammate Remy gardner, also a rookie at Tech3 and with the 2 Moto2021 World Champion title in his pocket, risks not experiencing such a happy ending. Stefan Pierer, again, made it clear that he did not want it in 2023, which developed the rumor of an upcoming arrival ofAugusto Fernandez next to Pol Espargaro, which was made official at the Red Bull Ring. Nothing is less certain than, when the Australian knows the epilogue of his story, he will also be friendly with KTM. But he will also have learned a lot.
