KTM has confirmed its Moto2 title-fighting protege Raul Fernandez will join Remy Gardner in being promoted to MotoGP for the 2022 season with the Tech 3 Racing squad.
The announcement means the French outfit will have an all-rookie MotoGP line-up for next season, in turn confirming both Danilo Petrucci and Iker Lecuona will exit at the end of the year.
Fernandez’s ascendency into the Tech 3 KTM caps off a remarkable rise to prominence for the Spaniard, who has shone in his maiden Moto2 campaign aboard the KTM-backed Ajo Kalex with three wins to place him second to team-mate Gardner in the standings.
While Gardner - who was announced with Tech 3 in May - only joined the KTM rider programme this season, Fernandez is a longer serving member of an academy that has nurtured the likes of Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder.
His signing was in part to KTM’s attempts to deflect serious interest from Yamaha, who tabled an offer that would have seen him racing the Petronas SRT machine in 2022. However, Fernandez says the chance to stay within the KTM family was crucial for him.
“Honestly, I’m really pleased with this opportunity from KTM, as much for this year as for the next. I’ve been learning a lot and enjoying Moto2 and was able to get into a position where I have this chance to enter MotoGP and for which I’m very grateful: it’s the dream of any rider to arrive to this class.
“Right now, the most important thing is to keep focusing on this season and giving all I have up until the last race to try and fight for the championship. If it doesn’t work out then fine, everything happens for a reason, and you have to look towards the positives.
“I’ve been a rookie this year and I want to close the chapter and then start again for 2022 where I’ll be looking to find a good feeling on the bike and, above all, aiming to enjoy myself.”
The announcement will come as a bitter blow to Petrucci and Lecuona, who were thought to be battling it out for the remaining Tech 3 seat before Fernandez's candidacy emerged. It will be particularly disappointing for Petrucci having only joined KTM this season following a long tenure with Ducati.
