MotoGP’s newest team, the WithU RNF Yamaha outfit with Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder as its riders, has revealed its 2022 machines at an event in Verona’s Philharmonic Theatre.
The team’s presentation was soundtracked by Italian opera, with a new colour scheme that bears little similarity to its previous iteration as Petronas Yamaha.
Now sponsored by Italian energy provider WithU following the withdrawal of Malaysian oil company Petronas and the subsequent collapse of the former Sepang Racing Team after only three seasons in the premier class, the iconic teal has been replaced with a rather busy blue and black scheme first hinted at in the team’s testing debut in November in Jerez.
Speaking in a statement, team founder Razlan Razali (formerly both the CEO of the Sepang International Circuit and team principal of Petronas Yamaha SRT) says that the historic venue is the perfect place to launch its new project.
“This presentation in this beautiful backdrop settings of Verona,” the Malaysian said, “signifies a number of things for the team; firstly, we are rebuilding, rebranding and with the riders, that we have engaged for this year, Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder, the target is to become competitive, surprise everybody and do the best we can in achieving our goals.
“Secondly, for the first time, WithU is the title partner for a MotoGP team. WithU has been with us since 2019 and we appreciate their continued commitment, Matteo Ballarin’s support, trust and confidence in us in this new journey for the next three years.
“For this 2022 season, we aim to be amongst the best of the independent teams at least. We want to fight for the rookie of the year, although we know it’s a huge challenge with five rookies in 2022 and Darryn being the only one of them to jump from Moto3 to MotoGP.
“For Andrea, he has a lot to prove coming back after more than six months of sabbatical. He definitely wants to prove not only to himself, but everybody, that he still has the motivation, the experience and the drive to fight for the world championship.
