I won the title but it was stolen from me

Segfault · Jan 23, 2022

I recall this statement from R. Fernandez after 2021 season ended. What do you think of that. I just watched the whole 2021 Moto2 season and can't figure out why he thinks it was stolen. Anyhow, this is sort of statement you can make in sauna, having a beer with friends. Making it publicly does him no good, even if it was true, which it isn't. I usually cheer for all riders, this sparked some antipathy in me. RF definitely has raw speed and talent. But now I think his personality sucks. Haven't seen him smiling, either. Great riders have great charisma, RF does not quite make it.

michaelm · Jan 23, 2022

Perhaps he is unhappy with the team. He seemed to want to stay in moto 2 for another year, and probably has interest from more major players than the KTM satellite team in the premier class.

Otherwise unless he is claiming the team sabotaged his bike he was overall the faster rider but was less consistent than Gardner, hence Gardner ending up with more points.

Segfault · Jan 23, 2022

In talks with Yamaha. Railroaded into KTM.
KTM was doing great until Michelin threw a monkey wrench in the works. There is no reason to believe KTM engineers cannot solve this and then KTM will be fighting for top places again. Yamaha OTOH probably enjoyed their last success with FQ, they used to get away with less power, but now bikes are so equal no one can afford weaknesses any more. If he was smart he'd be happy being in satellite KTM team with all doors open for future. But I guess he is not. Smart and charismatic and funny and a great fella.

michaelm · Jan 24, 2022

Segfault said:
In talks with Yamaha. Railroaded into KTM.
KTM was doing great until Michelin threw a monkey wrench in the works. There is no reason to believe KTM engineers cannot solve this and then KTM will be fighting for top places again. Yamaha OTOH probably enjoyed their last success with FQ, they used to get away with less power, but now bikes are so equal no one can afford weaknesses any more. If he was smart he'd be happy being in satellite KTM team with all doors open for future. But I guess he is not. Smart and charismatic and funny and a great fella.

That may be it then. He perhaps wanted to serve out his contract in moto 2, win the title, then have a wide choice of premier class rides, rather than the team making the choice of where he rode this season and seeing his star possibly dim riding a satellite KTM. To be fair riding a satellite KTM last year didn’t exactly help the careers of the 2 riders concerned. Remy Gardner is I guess older and may be of interest to Honda and fit their timeline.

I would cut Raul some slack, he is very young , but Gardner is certainly entitled to take some umbrage imo.

Segfault · Jan 24, 2022

He perhaps wanted to serve out his contract in moto 2, win the title, then have a wide choice of premier class rides

In principle, yes. In actuality there is almost nowhere to go. Only if FQ makes space and moves elsewhere, but where? Marc is at Honda, he may not feel RF is the man Honda needs.
Remy Gardner rode Moto2 bike with less corner speed and sharper turning, he should have no problem adapting to big bikes.
Raul Fernandez took wider lines, like Moto3 does. He needs to change his style. His goal #1 is beating teammate. It will be interesting to see if he can do it. He was marginally faster in testing, but this may be because RG rides more cautiously.

michaelm · Jan 24, 2022

Segfault said:
In principle, yes. In actuality there is almost nowhere to go. Only if FQ makes space and moves elsewhere, but where? Marc is at Honda, he may not feel RF is the man Honda needs.
Remy Gardner rode Moto2 bike with less corner speed and sharper turning, he should have no problem adapting to big bikes.
Raul Fernandez took wider lines, like Moto3 does. He needs to change his style. His goal #1 is beating teammate. It will be interesting to see if he can do it. He was marginally faster in testing, but this may be because RG rides more cautiously.

I think Gardner had fractured ribs which he rode with in the last race.

I agree/hope with you and others that RG will be suited by the bigger bike. He is a bigger guy himself for a start. There are vague hints of interest from Honda, they still revere his father which probably does count for something, and he might fit their time line, although I am not sure he is good enough. MM is crazy if he rides for longer than 2 more years imo. I am not sure Raul would be MM’s ideal team-mate as you say.

Raul looked better than most as a moto 2 rider imo, but that doesn’t always translate, again as you imply. He probably rightly or wrongly does want a Yamaha ride.

Gaz · Feb 2, 2022

'I won the title but it was stolen from me'

Now, where have I heard that before .......................... lol

Segfault · Feb 3, 2022

Latest from RF is "team favored Gardner". Not sure how they did that. :unsure: By installing a softer tire, he lost one race to RG who had a harder tire? Isn't this a rider's decision? Indeed, team can affect racers performance, remember what happened to Alonso when he started beating his McLaren teammate. Can't beat your own team, disillusioned Alonso said. I really don't think anything like this happened in the Ajo team.

Bern1 · Feb 3, 2022

Hmm, if RF said that, my opinion of him has clicked down a few notches. I don’t care how old he is.

michaelm · Feb 3, 2022

Bern1 said:
Hmm, if RF said that, my opinion of him has clicked down a few notches. I don’t care how old he is.

He may just want out of KTM. Not necessarily the smartest way to go about it though.

Segfault · Feb 4, 2022

Where is the thief? (This link is to my home router and my upload speed sucks, you may see it better if you download it first.)
3x DNF - all his own making.

michaelm · Feb 4, 2022

Segfault said:
Where is the thief? (This link is to my home router and my upload speed sucks, you may see it better if you download it first.)
3x DNF - all his own making.

Sure, I don't think anyone thinks there is any substance to his allegations. If he doesn't have any ulterior motive such as wanting to go to a different team, at best he may think he should have won because he is intrinsically faster than Gardner. If he is of that view he wouldn't be the first motorsports competitor to think that way, but all of them were wrong, to finish first you first have to finish has been a motorsports adage for a long time for good reason.

Some of this may be down to KTM though imo. As far as I can tell his preferred option for this season was to stay in moto2 where it would seem likely he would have had a strong chance of winning the title and having a broad range of options for 2023. He might well have justlfiable concerns about a year on a satellite KTM not making his star shine brighter, it certainly didn't do much for the 2021 incumbents, who were also fairly ruthlessly cut by KTM mid season.

Segfault · Feb 4, 2022

Did KTM really force him to move up? I have no clue, naturally, what might be in his contract, but I doubt he had no word in it.

michaelm · Feb 5, 2022

Segfault said:
Did KTM really force him to move up? I have no clue, naturally, what might be in his contract, but I doubt he had no word in it.

I don’t know either of course. He was saying most of the year he wanted to stay in moto 2 though, and a Tech 3 satellite KTM ride perhaps appeals to him less than the rumoured interest from Yamaha. If he had already happily accepted the Tech 3 ride that is his problem of course, not that many in the paddock seem to take contracts very seriously these days.

Segfault · Feb 5, 2022

KTM definitely is very strong in hiring department. They have got so much talent already they have no place for Acosta when he arrives into top class. I recall Zarco was sucked in without his content. KTM made a deal with his manager and that was it. A deal made in hell. Maybe something like this happened here, too. Pure speculation, of course. I have no clue what actually happened there.

PRS717 · Feb 5, 2022

Segfault said:
KTM definitely is very strong in hiring department. They have got so much talent already they have no place for Acosta when he arrives into top class. I recall Zarco was sucked in without his content. KTM made a deal with his manager and that was it. A deal made in hell. Maybe something like this happened here, too. Pure speculation, of course. I have no clue what actually happened there.

I think if Pit Beirer gets his way, KTM will have 6 bikes on the grid.

Search

Search

I won the title but it was stolen from me

Segfault

michaelm

Segfault

michaelm

Segfault

michaelm

Gaz

Segfault

Bern1

michaelm

Segfault

michaelm

Segfault

michaelm

Segfault

PRS717

Similar threads

Recent Discussions