It is the end of the road for Moto3 rider Romano Fenati and his now former team Sky Racing VR46 as the Italian has been sacked after three seasons of their collaboration together.
Fenati banned from the Austrian Moto3
The night before the Moto3 race at the Red Bull Ring was to be raced, the Sky Racing Team VR46 released a statement revealing that they themselves were penalising their rider for ongoing behaviour issues and as a result he would miss the race.
Fenati out, Dalla Porta in
Since then though, it has been announced that Sky Racing Team VR46 and Fenati will part years midway through the season, which means the chance of success in the Moto3 championship is now limited.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta, who has made several wildcard appearances this season in the Moto3, will be the man to replace Fenati aboard the KTM from the twelfth round in the season at Silverstone.
He will be returning to the Aspar Mahindra Team next season after previously signing for the team for 2017.
Fenati’s future not clear
The statement released by the team indicated that Fenati had been penalised and now made redundant for ‘behaviour issues relating to his team’. There was thought to have been a physical altercation involving members of the team’s crew and management.
This is a disaster for Fenati who was supposed to be promoted to the Moto2 class by his now former team next season. Like the Leopard Racing Team, they planned to expand into the Moto2 class and promote Fenati in the meantime, but now he has spoilt it for himself.
Rossi disappointed about it all
Valentino Rossi himself spoke after the Austrian GP about the matter saying, “For us it’s a great shame!” He confirmed they were “not happy with Fenati” as he said it felt like they had “lost a battle”.
Singing his praises he said he “is a great rider with a great talent” and admitted that the team wanted “to try and bet on him for the future” as they wanted to promote him to Moto2 next year, but he said, “Unfortunately we have to give up!”
The team’s championship hopes sit with Bulega
Fenati was third (93 points) in the championship heading into the tenth round at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, having missed the race Francesco Bagnaia (who finished 11th and claimed five points and is now on 90 points) was able to reduce the gap between them to three points.
Fenati’s now former rookie teammate Nicolo Bulega will become the rider whose success the Sky Racing VR46 Team’s hopes are now set on. The young Italian is currently fifth in the championship on 82 points. Dalla Porta is currently in 26th on seven points, after his wildcard appearances aboard an Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda.