Halfway through the MotoGP season, Petronas SRT and Yamaha looked into hiring Raul Fernandez. Razlan Razali’s team tried to get the services of the spanish rider, but two factors ended up being too strong so the signing never took place.
As he has now confirmed to Speedweek, Razali said that the amount needed to unlock Fernández’s hiring has increased over time. Simultaneously, the official declared that the announced departure of Petronas was the final factor in giving this contracting attempt as finished.
Our interest in Raul Fernandez was very strong. It wasn’t so much what we or Yamaha wanted to pay him. We tried everything to achieve it. I know we stepped on some people’s toes in the process, but we had to try. And, no matter how much we went after him, we always respected the existing contracts. Of course, there is an exit clause in all contracts’, Razali told before saying that the rider himself became more and more valuable as his performances on track continued to improve:
– Both Yamaha and we had a certain amount in mind, but the amount requested kept going up. At one point, it became too risky. At the same time, at the beginning of august, at the first Austrian GP, we encountered the problem of the withdrawal of Petronas. So, we could no longer proceed with this plan.
Remember that up until the last moment before being confirmed in Tech3 for 2022, Razali tried to sign the rider, and had, according to the spanish media, a meeting with the rider’s representative in Spielberg.
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