Over the course of the Valencia Grand Prix weekend, there were reports in various media outlets – started by The Race – that the RNF team, which came into existence towards the end of 2021, was in trouble.
A press release from the team on Saturday, followed by a press conference hosted by CryptoDATA to announce a strategic partnership with Romanian EDM festival Untold, denied all rumours of financial problems and a potential takeover by Trackhouse Racing.
The release also stated that “the decision for Razlan Razali not to be part of the RNF Team management was not only from yesterday, but was taken more than one month ago, due the pressure made by the shareholders following poor performance and financial decisions”
This implied that Razali was fired, with the internal audit taking place over how he spent the team’s finances a contributing factor.
On Monday, Dorna Sports announced that it would not be continuing with RNF as an official MotoGP team in 2024 due to “repeated infractions and breaches of the Participation Agreement affecting the public image of MotoGP.”
Razali, however, told select media including Autosport on Monday that all of what has been officially communicated by the team and CryptoDATA up to now has been false.
He began: “I think the general assessment I would say is that for a team to be where they are today and for Dorna to say such things, there’s definitely a problem.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Raul Fernandez, RNF MotoGP Racing
“And only Dorna can do what they are doing to ensure the credibility of the sport, of the image, so that it’s not being disrupted in any way.
“So, hence that means there’s a problem. By saying that, I do have a problem with CryptoDATA. I think over the years our vision of what we want from the team has shifted.
“I think as a lot of people in this paddock, we are very much passionate in this sport. I believe I am a sportsperson first, and we are a sports team.
“We travel around the world, we do the best we can with our riders to try to be competitive and try to win. Yes, there’s the business element of it, bills have to be paid. You need partners, you need sponsors.
“But that is second for us. For the guys of CryptoDATA it’s more about the business. And that’s where the alignment went a little bit wrong and it came to this situation.
“For the record, I actually resigned as the director of RNF Racing – not removed…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Autosport.com – MotoGP – Stories…