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.
“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 or sacked – two, three weeks ago.
“And only yesterday I stepped down officially as team principal. I will not go into the details of what actually happened, but in this world that we live in, it’s all about respect, it’s all about professionalism, it’s all about doing the right thing.
“Yes, they are here to change how things work and I respect that and I am open to that. But there are certain key pillars that you have to adhere to do business. And that’s where the situation is a bit off with what’s happening right now.”
His claims that he resigned tallies with a Companies House update on the UK government’s website, which states that he was terminated as RNF’s director on 14 November – just after the Malaysian GP.
CryptoDATA took over as RNF’s title sponsor last year after Italian telecoms company WithU pulled out at the end of 2022, while the Romanian blockchain technology firm also bought a 60% share in the squad while Razali retained a 40% minor stake.
On Sunday, CryptoDATA reportedly showed a Portuguese journalist documents confirming Razali’s misspending – something the Malaysian told Autosport is a move to discredit him and cover its own tracks.
“And it takes until the end of the season to bring this up,” he said when this accusation was put to him. “I have not seen it. I think it’s definitely an attempt to do whatever to protect them, being defensive and to discredit me.
“I have been in this paddock for 14 years, I’ve been here since 2008 as a promoter, for 11 years at Sepang Circuit and five years as team principal. And these guys come in in a year and now they are publishing all this. We’ll let the truth come out sooner or later.”
When Autosport asked if there were, in fact, outstanding bills to be paid, Razali said: “I’m looking at it now. Yes.”
Razali confirmed that the payments yet to be made were to all suppliers, but would not comment on record what the total outstanding amount from CryptoDATA is. Autosport can confirm that Aprilia has been paid what it was owed by RNF.
Autosport reached out to Dorna for comment, but it has declined to do so at this time.
A source away from the team, who wished to remain nameless, claims that the lack of payment to Dorna comes from CryptoDATA’s agreement as title sponsor of the Austrian GP, and it did not pay all of what was agreed.
They also claim Dorna’s decision is based on wanting CryptoDATA out of the paddock because it does not trust the company.
Razali defended Dorna’s due diligence process over CryptoDATA, but notes that “they don’t just kick people out for the sake of kicking people out [of the paddock]. This is scary for other MotoGP teams and potentially investors, so there must be a strong basis for them to make that decision.”
He added: “I think both parties, Dorna and us, we were caught. They are new kids on the block and I think the championship needs someone new, especially someone in this industry, in the IT industry.
“Of course, the myth is around the name CryptoDATA because of crypto currency, that’s not giving a good positive vibes around it, but they make it very clear that they’re not crypto currency, they are encryption, cyber security, whatever.
“Due diligence was done on Dorna’s side to accept them to be a partner for Spielberg Grand Prix, they signed for three years and then we came into the situation. Last year, when we were in a very difficult situation, there was an attempt by Dorna to help and introduce us to new partners, which didn’t work out, they couldn’t come in on time, until CryptoDATA decided to step in and we sat down and discussed it.
“Due diligence was already done by Dorna in that sense and it was consented for them to enter with us as a majority shareholder. Like any other due diligence that you’ve done, there’s never enough, so we just all of us are caught in this situation.”
When CryptoDATA was announced as RNF’s title partner last year at the Valencia GP, it was done in a press conference attended by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta. Last Saturday during the rather apt Untold announcement, nobody from Dorna, nor Aprilia was present – despite CryptoDATA representatives stating all was well with its Italian “business partner”.
Razali still owns 40% but “doesn’t want to fight” to retain any of this and wants to “cut myself free” from it. A large part of this is because RNF is a team named after Razali’s children and he doesn’t want to ruin the sentimental value this team has to him.
Another key element in Razali wanting a clean break to focus on new pastures in racing is because his team is representative of a major market for motorcycle racing, with Asian teams not hugely represented in top class motorsport.
“I mean, even from Petronas days, last year, this year, we travel to Asia – Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia our home grand prix, even India the new GP – we carry the flag for Asians,” he added.
“So there’s a little bit of a sense of responsibility in that sense, to not further jeopardise the negativity of it for the championship, for the whole of Asia. I did tell Carmelo ‘look, do what you have to do’, and I just step back because I don’t want to go against it, it’s not worth it and it would disrupt the sport. So I made a bit of a sacrifice.”
Aprilia is yet to comment publicly on the situation as to who will get its satellite bikes in 2024.
Both RNF riders Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez are contracted directly to Aprilia. So, their places on the 2024 MotoGP grid are safe.
Autosport has learned that Trackhouse Racing is set to take over the grid slots from RNF next season, with an official announcement expected in the coming days.
Additional reporting by Megan White
