When Raul Fernandez entered MotoGP in the 2022 season, expectations were through the roof. The previous year, he and then Ajo KTM teammate Remy Gardner had fought a memorable and intense battle for the Moto2 title, Fernandez just losing out to Gardner at the final round, the Australian taking the crown.
Both Fernandez and Gardner were promoted to the Tech3 MotoGP team by KTM, where both immediately sank without trace. Fernandez ended the 2022 MotoGP season having scored just 14 points, one more than his teammate. Fernandez was outscored by factory KTM riders Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira by 174 and 134 points respectively.
Fernandez’ rookie season was an unmitigated disaster, casting doubt on the value of the Moto2 campaign against Remy Gardner. A year later, Gardner was in WorldSBK while Fernandez had been saved by the RNF team’s switch to Aprilia, and offered a seat there.
