Within the RNF team, there seems to be a concentration of emotions produced by its members who, from pilots to managers, must recover from a disappointed romantic relationship. Enough to strengthen the ties to open a new romance which will be all the stronger as it will be nourished by the recent and painful disappointment. On this Valentine's Day, the story could not be better revealed, as illustrated by an original video on the team's social network. Images are one thing, but words are another, and first of all because they stick. Those of team manager Wilco Zeelenberg and Raul Fernandez are so strong that it will be interesting to put them to the test of time and the pressure of competition...
Un Miguel Oliveira who preferred to leave KTM rather than continuing a relationship where he no longer felt like the favorite, a Raul Fernandez rejected by the same brand which left him with the bitter feeling of a major missed meeting, and then the staff of the RNF team, who would have so much wanted to seduce a brand Yamaha who never gave him his good graces... All these beautiful people with broken hearts and sensitive cords meet this season around a factory Aprilia much more romantic than Iwata's. The desire to succeed together after so much disappointment is not feigned, and even less so since it would also have a taste of revenge.
A state of mind which exudes in particular the words of Raul Fernandez upon returning from his three days of test in Sepang with the Aprilia RS-GP. “ It was like my first time on the bike because in Valencia it was really difficult, I had a lot of pain » says the Spaniard. “ Anyway, the first 10 rounds were tough but I'm really happy, I feel at home. I'm super comfortable, also with Aprilia which gives us good support and I am very happy “, declared the man who won eight races during his first season in Moto2 in 2021, one more than Marc Marquez in 2011.
Raul Fernandez RNF Aprilia: “ it’s the first time since 2021 that I’ve had fun on the bike«
« I started having fun on the bike and it's the first time since 2021. It's our job now, to try to have fun and believe more in myself and the team because when you have a tough year, it's hard to have that feeling. With the Aprilia I feel really good and especially with the team, I believe a lot in them and I think they believe in me and we work very well together » he finishes.
Morale returned and bearings regained, Raul Fernandez made a good impression at Sepang with an eleventh place, less than half a second behind the Aprilia veteran Aleix Espargaró. This is a very promising start to which Wilco Zeelenberg believes so much that he launches into a comparison that is at least flattering for the teammate of Miguel Oliveira : " as you know, we wanted to have Raul in our team already last year and we couldn't do it, and he was disappointed, as were we. But it happened and he's back with his old crew chief and he'll have last year's Aprilia », begins the team manager on motogp.com.
« He has a good feeling about the bike, everything is a little more relaxed and he has the things he wanted to have ". Then the former team manager of the Petronas team who gave a chance to fabio quartararo remember : " he never lost his talent, he clearly struggled last year but we had the same thing with Fabio Quartararo. We knew Fabio was really talented but it didn't show. But when we put him on a MotoGP and he felt comfortable with his chief mechanic, with the team and he was able to build himself up, take his time, he ended up winning the championship. This is therefore clearly the objective that we have with our two pilots ". This is all the bad we wish the RNF team.
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