RNF Racing
Malaysian Grand Prix motorcycle racing team
RNF Racing was a Malaysian Grand Prix motorcycle racing team that competed in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The team last competed with Aprilia motorcycles in the MotoGP class as a satellite team under the name CryptoData RNF MotoGP Team, and in MotoE under the name RNF MotoE Team.
01History
The team's origins began with the Sepang Racing Team (SRT) under ownership by the Sepang International Circuit and managed by circuit CEO Razlan Razali and former racers Johan Stigefelt and Wilco Zeelenberg. During the 2021 season, the principal sponsor Petronas announced they would be removing their support for the team at the end of the season, and shortly thereafter SRT announced they would cease all racing activities at the end of the season. Control of the team and its assets were taken over by Razali and Stigefelt to create the rebranded RNF Racing team, with an agreement from Dorna Sports for a grid slot at least until the end of 2026. Razali confirmed the significance of the team name as coming from the initials of his family name as well as the names of his children (Razali, Nadia and Farouk). On 30 October, RNF announced that Stigefelt would split from the team under "mutual agreement".
The team continued in 2022 under a number of SRT's previous agreements, with Italian rider Andrea Dovizioso on a factory-specification Yamaha YZR-M1. Darryn Binder was promoted from the Moto3 Petronas Sprinta Racing team as the team's second rider, aboard a 2021-specification Yamaha machine. Naming rights for the team were secured by Italian energy and telecommunications brand WithU in early 2022, and the team raced under the name WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing.
On 27 May 2022, it was announced that the team would use Aprilia bikes starting with the 2023 season. In November 2022, it was announced that Romanian blockchain company CryptoDATA Tech had purchased a majority stake in the team which would be named CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team for 2023. Riders Miguel Oliveira and Raúl Fernández joined from the KTM stable.
On 27 November 2023, the MotoGP Selection Committee announced that CryptoDATA RNF would not be permitted participation in the 2024 MotoGP championship, citing repeated infractions and breaches of the Participation Agreement. Trackhouse Racing was later announced to take over RNF's grid slot from the 2024 season.
02Results
By season
| Year | Class | Team name | Bike | Riders | Races | Wins | Podiums | Poles | F. laps | Points | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | MotoGP | WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team | Yamaha YZR-M1 | Andrea Dovizioso | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 21st |
| Darryn Binder | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 24th | ||||
| Cal Crutchlow | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 25th | ||||
| MotoE | WithU GRT RNF MotoE Team | Energica Ego Corsa | Niccolò Canepa | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 94.5 | 7th | |
| Andrea Mantovani | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 16th | ||||
| Lukas Tulovic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 19th | ||||
| Bradley Smith | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 18th | ||||
| 2023 | MotoGP | CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia RS-GP22 | Raúl Fernández | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 20th |
| Lorenzo Savadori | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 (12) | 24th | ||||
| Miguel Oliveira | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 16th | ||||
| MotoE | RNF MotoE Team | Ducati V21L | Andrea Mantovani | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 138 | 8th | |
| Mika Pérez | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 15th |
MotoGP results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Motorcycle | Name | Tyres | Riders | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Points | RC | Points | TC | Points | MC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Yamaha YZR-M1 | WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team | M | QAT | INA | ARG | AME | POR | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | GER | NED | GBR | AUT | RSM | ARA | JPN | THA | AUS | MAL | VAL | |||||||
| Andrea Dovizioso | 14 | Ret | 20 | 15 | 11 | 17 | 16 | 20 | Ret | 14 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 21st | 37 | 11th | 256 | 2nd | ||||||||||
| Cal Crutchlow | 14 | 15 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 25th | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darryn Binder | 16 | 10 | 18 | 22 | 17 | Ret | 17 | 16 | 12 | Ret | Ret | 20 | Ret | 16 | 18 | Ret | 21 | 14 | Ret | Ret | 12 | 24th | ||||||||
| 2023 | Aprilia RS-GP | CryptoData RNF MotoGP Team | M | POR | ARG | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | GER | NED | GBR | AUT | CAT | RSM | IND | JPN | INA | AUS | THA | MAL | QAT | VAL | |||||||
| Raúl Fernández | Ret | 14 | Ret | 15 | WD | 17 | 15 | 12 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 8 | 109 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 15 | Ret | 17 | 5 | 51 | 20th | 134 | 8th | 326 | 3rd | ||||
| Lorenzo Savadori | 12 | 13 | 7 (12) | 24th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miguel Oliveira | Ret7 | 58 | Ret5 | Ret | 10 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 56 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 13 | Ret | Ret | DNS | 76 | 16th | |||||||||||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “RNF Racing”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- CryptoDATA Aprilia RNF MotoGP Team logo.png by Unknown author, Fair use
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