Satellite MotoGP team RNF will swap its regular blue paint scheme for a bright-coloured livery in the Valencia finale, to mark the arrival of a new majority owner.
The RNF team, established by former Sepang circuit boss Razlan Razali as a successor to the Petronas SRT operation following Petronas’s withdrawal, has had Italian energy provider WithU as its title sponsor this year.
But WithU made it clear in September it was intending to walk away ahead of 2023 – a season that will mark RNF’s switch from being a Yamaha customer to fielding a pair of 2022-spec Aprilia RS-GPs for Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez.
RNF announced earlier this weekend that Romanian company CryptoDATA Tech – “a blockchain-applied technologies pioneer and developer of hardware and software cybersecurity solutions” – had become a majority shareholder of the outfit.
And while the team remains entered as WithU RNF, the livery introduced for Valencia is virtually devoid of the Italian company’s branding.
What a beast!! Check out the unveiling of our special #ValenciaGP Livery 🤩#rnfmotogpteam | @CryptoDATA_Tech | #DiscoverPrivacy | #greenpowergenerators | @MotoGP | @calcrutchlow | @DarrynBinder40 pic.twitter.com/Y6lFVnMUoS
— RNF Racing MotoGP Team (@rnfracingteam) November 6, 2022
Razali described CryptoDATA’s investment as “a long-term commitment”. The company was also the title sponsor of the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
RNF’s current riders, Cal Crutchlow – who, as Yamaha test rider, was called up to replace the retired Andrea Dovizioso – and Darryn Binder, will start the race from 17th and 24th respectively.
