MotoGP Valencia GP
RNF MotoGP team denies financial problems and takeover talks
The RNF MotoGP team has put out a lengthy statement denying reports that its place on the 2024 grid is in jeopardy due to financial issues.
Lewis Duncan
Edited: Nov 26, 2023, 8:33 AM
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The RNF team came into existence at the end of 2021 following Petronas and the Sepang Racing Team's decision to quit MotoGP at the conclusion of that season.
Former SRT team boss Razlan Razali became the owner of RNF, which fielded Yamaha bikes in 2022 before linking up with Aprilia for this season.
For 2023, RNF took on a title partnership with Romanian firm CryptoDATA, while Razali sold a majority stake in his team to the company.
The team has achieved largely poor results, however, with RNF finishing 11th of the 12 teams in 2022 and is on course for ninth out of 11 outfits this season.
During the Valencia Grand Prix weekend, reports emerged in some media that RNF's place on the grid next year was in doubt amid rumours of debt relating to its title partner.
Italian outlet GPOne then reported that NASCAR team Trackhouse Racing was set to take over RNF next season.
This followed a social media post from Razali which suggested – but did not explicitly state – that he was stepping down at the end of the season.
But on Saturday evening in Valencia, the team put out a statement denying all of this, noting that a takeover offer was rejected two weeks ago and that Razali is stepping down – though this was decided over a month ago.
RNF also denied owing any money to suppliers, including Aprilia.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Lorenzo Savadori, RNF MotoGP Racing
The full statement reads: "There are many speculations in the press about the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team and because of this we want to provide clarifications through this official press release.
"One thing is clear - CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team has a contract for participation in the MotoGP Championships that is valid until 2026 which was assigned from Sepang Racing Team.
"This contract has very clear terms and conditions and until now we have not even been notified about a breach of a contractual obligation. Even more, we did not receive a termination notice of this contract.
"Moreover, RNF has a valid contract with Aprilia and we did not receive a notice to terminate this contract as well. The speculations with respect to the quality of the parts for motorcycles provided by Aprilia due to "alleged" debts are false.
"There are no debts towards Aprilia and all amounts are settled since earlier this year. Also, in addition to what was in the contract, we have agreed to additional mechanics and carried out with fulfilling the extra costs.
"It's true that RNF had received an offer for the place on the grid, in Madrid at Dorna office, however this offer was rejected officially more than 2 weeks ago and since then no other negotiation was initiated.
"The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team does not have any debts or disputes with its suppliers and all the activity is carried out according to the business plan and according to the contractual terms with the suppliers.
"The RNF Team is still owned 60% by CDT SPORTS AND MEDIA SRL and 40% by Razlan Razali. The company RNF Racing Ltd. is subject to an internal audit by the majority shareholder (CDT) to review the internal processes and the activity of the employees.
"The changes in the management of the team will come with certainty as this was a transition year and after the audit we will put into place optimization processes of the human resources in order to implement the strategy with tactics to obtain performance in the team.
"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 to the pressure made by the shareholders following poor performance and financial decisions."
RNF is due to continue in 2024 with Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez on year-old Aprilias.
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