The championship eventu-
ally had Bagnaia on top with
265 from Quartararo's 248 and
Bastianini clinched third on
219 from Espargaro (212) and
Miller's 189.
MOTO2
Augusto Fernandez is the 2022
Moto2 World Champion. The
Spaniard finished second to
Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate
Pedro Acosta in the final race of
the season at Valencia, but the
title was already his by the time
he took the flag after Ai Ogura
(Idemitsu Honda Team Asia)
crashed out of second place
on lap eight. Tony Arbolino (Elf
Marc VDS Racing Team) led for
much of the 25-lap race and
would eventually complete the
RAZALI HANDS
OVER THE KEYS
Hot on the heels of losing WithU
as a title sponsor, RNF Racing,
Razlan Razali's beleaguered satel-
lite outfit, announced it has a new
majority shareholder: CryptoData
Tech. The company, described in
an official release as a blockchain-
applied technologies pioneer
and developer of hardware and
software cybersecurity solutions,
found a way into MotoGP via
title sponsorship of the Austrian
GP. This partnership comes on
the back of reported financial
issues for Razali's year-old RNF
outfit, with certain team members
thought to have gone consider-
able time without getting paid.
Next year, the team will switch
from Yamaha to Aprilia machinery.
NEW KTM CHASSIS
KTM's testing program began
in earnest at Valencia with Brad
Binder using a new chassis to aid
with the RC16's turning deficien-
cies. The South African was com-
petitive in qualifying and free prac-
tice, despite feeling far from fully
comfortable aboard the revised
frame. "Lap-time-wise, I'm not
sure if it is [much faster]," he said.
"It's different. I feel I gain more on
gas and acceleration, from corner
to corner. But I definitely lose on
entry because the front is a lot
looser. And it takes a lot more to
trust where the limit is because it
moves a lot. It's difficult to under-
stand where the limit is running
into the corners. You've got to
use that advantage which is when
you pick the bike up. Still learning
a little bit. That's about it. We've
Briefly...
ROUND 20 / NOVEMBER 4-6, 2022
RICARDO TORMO CIRCUIT / VALENCIA, SPAIN
P64
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP