Pit Beirer admitted he was wrong to force his hand and enforce a contractual clause that prevented the Spaniard from signing with Yamaha and made him jump into the premier class with Tech3. Manager considered it was wrong to put in the RC16 someone who didn't believe in the project
KTM has acknowledged that it made a mistake in forcing Raúl Fernández to defend the Austrian brand in his debut season in MotoGP. Pit Beirer assumed that it was not the right decision to enforce the Spaniard's contract, and acknowledged that he failed to put someone on the RC16 who did not believe in Mattighofen's project.
At the end of last year, Raúl was close to signing with Yamaha to race in the satellite RNF. KTM, however, enforced a contractual clause that gave them first option with the Spaniard in MotoGP, in a decision that, by the way, caused much discomfort.This decision caused a great deal of discomfort, as the announcement of Raúl's arrival at Tech3 was made before Danilo Petrucci and Iker Lecuona had even been informed of the team's withdrawal.
MOTOGP STANDINGS
▶️ Quartararo relies on talent and luck to extend MotoGP lead
Fernández, by the way, did not hide his dissatisfaction either and clearly said that he was not moving up to the premier class of the MotoGP World Championship with whom he wanted.
"We exercised a choice that I now regret," Beirer admitted in an interview with the German website motorsport-total.com. We simply felt that it belonged to us and that we wouldn't give it away," he followed.
"This year was also a learning experience for me. You need people who believe in the project and give it their all. It was definitely not the right mix," he acknowledged. "If you attract such a young driver to this category, you better have an experienced leader in the pits. We had to learn that the hard way," he acknowledged.
In addition to assuming the error in the approach with Raul, Beirer acknowledged that the Tech3 duo as a whole is not working, as he understands that the two drivers are not "pushing in the right direction." The manager indicated that Remy Gardner is not guaranteed to be with the team in 2023 either.
"He lost faith and said that he couldn't do it, that the bike doesn't work, that it's not fun and that maybe next year he will compete in the Superbike World Championship. He just gave up," he commented. "Since Mugello, it has been up to us to develop him. Now he understands struggle and is 11th. He understood that we need to progress millimeter by millimeter," he detailed.
"Raúl Fernández and Remy Gardner don't seem to be pushing in the right direction. Both of them have given themselves away. We talked to them a lot, and in Barcelona I had one in 11th and one in 15th. They had too high expectations and maybe they overestimated the Moto2 category for themselves," he pondered. "They thought that in MotoGP they would need a bike on which everything happens by itself. But look where [Fabio] Quartararo is and where the other three Yamaha are. It's the rider that makes the difference," he stressed.
"For 14 days we've been telling them that they need to fight. As rookies, they should fight for a championship point. And if they get one point, two points should be the next goal. With Gardner now it has worked out," he closed.
MotoGP returns to the track on June 19 for the German GP at Sachsenring, the tenth round of the 2022 season.GRANDE PRÊMIO is following all the activities of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship.