Raul Fernandez

It took Raul Fernandez until the closing stages of his final Moto3 season in 2020 to take podiums and race wins, but once he had tasted success with the Ajo team there was no looking back.

Many questioned the decision to move up to Moto2 (with Ajo) the following year, rather than staying to attempt a Moto3 title attack. But Fernandez soon silenced the doubters by qualifying second for his intermediate class debut and winning at round three in Portimao.

It was the first of eight victories, surpassing even Marc Marquez's rookie Moto2 performances, but mistakes cost Fernandez the points needed to beat team-mate Remy Gardner (five wins) to the title.

Fernandez then, somewhat reluctantly, moved straight up to MotoGP alongside Gardner at the Tech3 KTM team for 2022.

It was rumoured that the MotoGP promotion had been made by KTM in order to see off interest in Fernandez from Yamaha and Aprilia.

But the RC16 gave little joy to either Tech3 rider with Fernandez rumoured to have told KTM he would seek pastures new for 2023 as early as round six at Jerez, where he withdrew due to injuries from an accident at Portimao.

Fernandez finally scored his first MotoGP points at Catalunya, round 9, and went on to overtake team-mate Gardner's tally of 13 by one point, with a best result of 12th.

With little to gain from trying to hold an unwilling Fernandez to his KTM option, the factory agreed to release the Spaniard for a 'reasonable' fee and he duly signed with RNF and Aprilia for 2023.