The Malaysian team Petronas SRT appeared in 2019 as a satellite formation of Yamaha in MotoGP, and did so in style, becoming a benchmark for independent structures in the premier class.
After a triumphant 2020, with six victories, three by Fabio Quartararo and as many by Franco Morbidelli , who finished second in the world championship, this year things went wrong for the Sepang -based team.
First they lost Fabio, who was promoted to the official Yamaha team, and they had to agree to make room for the veteran Valentino Rossi , a move that has not given the expected commercial revenue, much less the sports one. The Italian announced his retirement at the end of the course without ever identifying himself with his new colors.
The icing on the cake has been that Yamaha ‘snatches’ Morbidelli from the Malaysians in the middle of the season, as if they were the owners of a structure that they have penalized more than helped.
From there, the team’s main sponsor, Petronas , announced that it was abandoning the project, and then the resignation of the Sepang Circuit joined, which has left the skipper of the team, Razlan Razali , alone at the helm of the ship.
Razali will continue to lead the project, which has the support of Dorna , with which it has signed an agreement to continue competing for five more seasons in the premier class, from 2022 to the end of 2026.
The unknown of Yamaha
Now we will have to see the level of support from Yamaha , of which it is a satellite team at least so far. For 2022 it seems that there is some certainty, since the signing of Andrea Dovizioso with an official factory motorcycle was officially announced this Thursday. Beyond that, everything is unknown, although on paper there was an agreement between SRT and Yamaha for five seasons, until 2026, an official announcement was never made, taking that relationship for granted when VR46 , the other team interested in the machinery Japanese, announced a three-year agreement with Ducati .
In the statement issued by RNF, the meaning of whose acronym has not been revealed, it announces that “Razali will remain in command while the project seeks to reach even greater heights”, but at no time does it name either Yamaha or the extension of the agreement with the brand, which until just a few weeks ago was hesitating between maintaining the partnership with SRT, or supplying its bikes to Valentino ‘s VR46.
Nor, at any time, is there any talk of a possible main sponsor, a field in which the new formation is also struggling with VR46 , which after the Aramco farce is uncovered seeks to try to wrest WithU from the Malaysians.
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Razlan Razali, RNF Racing Team Principal, Carmelo Ezpeleta, General Manager of Dorna Sports
“Over the last few months we have put all our efforts into restarting, rebranding and relaunching ourselves as a fresh and stronger MotoGP team,” Razali explains in the note.
“I would like to thank Carmelo (Ezpeleta , CEO of Dorna) for his continued trust in me to start this second chapter with a newly rebuilt team that will compete in the premier class of MotoGP for the next five years,” continues the Malaysian executive.
“For the next season, under the new entity of RNF MotoGP Racing , the renamed team will continue our plan that has proven successful so far,” concludes a Razali who does not name Yamaha at any time, leading one to think that the negotiations They are still open and anything can happen.
“It is a pleasure to continue working and associating ourselves with a structure headed by Razlan Razali , under the new name RNF MotoGP Racing. Our long working relationship has been exciting for both the fans and the competition. I know Razlan is passionate about this project and I am sure we will continue to see great things from the new team in the coming season and beyond. Razlan has been a great asset to the MotoGP family since his days at Sepang , and has helped grow the sport in Malaysia and throughout the important South East Asian region in general,” added Carmelo Ezpeleta , CEO of Dorna and Head of MotoGP in the note.
