Razlan Razali pointed out that many of the riders on the MotoGP market are young but experienced. After two years of poor results, the manager made it clear that he does not want to wait to get results
The RNF goes into the 2023 MotoGP season with an eye on "immediate results" and therefore wants experienced riders rather than rookies. Still, Razlan Razali, the team boss, has his eye on young experienced riders rather than veterans, as was the case in the last two years with Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso.
Starting next year, the RNF will no longer be a Yamaha satellite and will join Aprilia. For now, the Malaysian team has not yet defined who will be the riders, but has already indicated that it does not intend to promote the debut of youngsters from Moto2, also in order not to overrule Darryn Binder, who came straight from Moto3 last year to race for the team.
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With Suzuki's exit from MotoGP at the end of 2022, Razali sees the team in a comfortable situation, as he understands that RNF can wait for the market movement before defining what to do. Moreover, Aprilia has been showing this year that it has a good package, especially with Aleix Espargaró, but eventually also with Maverick Viñales.
"We are in a good position to wait and see what the other teams are doing," Razali told the British website The Race. "They have more riders than openings, and we simply have to wait and see. They have some riders who are both young and experienced in MotoGP-even young riders with five or six years of experience. We can afford to wait and see what happens," he followed.
"Agents from many riders have come to see us and Aprilia since we made the announcement. At the end of the day, we are the only satellite team left, and Aprilia is showing a very good package with Aleix and Maverick," he commented. "Obviously, we are the next target for both youngsters and those at risk of not continuing, and we can wait to see how things develop," he assessed.
"I think we can wait as long as possible, but at the same time we need to deal well with our sponsors as well. I would say that by Silverstone we will have an indication," he indicated.
Thanks to the agreement with Aprilia, RNF is also free from the sponsors' requirement to have an Italian rider, which allows it to negotiate with riders like Miguel Oliveira, Álex Rins and even Álex Márquez.
"At the moment, 90% of our sponsors are Italian and having Aprilia next year strengthens that. Since we are using the Aprilia brand, the feeling towards Italian riders is not as much of a priority," Razlan explained. "But at the same time, they don't have that many Italians now. There are rumors about guys like Vietti, but for me, you still have a number of riders who are a bit more experienced, people with a year of MotoGP experience, who we can still develop, so we don't need to take anyone from Moto2 yet. Our sponsors understand this, so there is no pressure for Italian riders," he justified.
"We won't take any Moto2 riders and ignore Darryn. It's not our style. But we are not confirmed with Darryn yet either, because, as I said, they have many riders and I think we want immediate results with Aprilia's bikes," he pondered. "From my experience in the last four years, and especially in the last two years where we have not performed well, I am desperate to show Aprilia - and everyone else - that we can get good results immediately if we find the right riders," he closed.
MotoGP returns to the track next week for the Dutch GP at Assen, the 11th round of the 2022 season.GRANDE PRÊMIO is following all the activities of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship.