Romano Fenati

Romano Fenati (born 15 January 1996) is an Italian motorcycle racer who competes at Grand Prix level. He was European 125 cc Champion in 2011,[2] championship runner-up of the Italian 125GP series, and also competed in the Spanish 125GP series.

Romano Fenati
NationalityItalian
Born (1996-01-15) 15 January 1996
Ascoli Piceno, Italy
Current teamSterilgarda Max Racing Team
Bike number55 [1]
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Moto2 World Championship
Active years2018
ManufacturersKalex
Championships0
2018 championship position21st (14 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
12 0 0 0 0 14
Moto3 World Championship
Active years20122017, 2019
ManufacturersFTR Honda, KTM, Honda, Husqvarna
Championships0
2020 championship position14th (77 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
128 12 25 4 13 1055

On 12 September 2018 Fenati announced his retirement from motorcycle competition after being sacked, two days earlier, by his team Marinelli Snipers.[3] In addition to an earlier two-race ban imposed, Fenati's racing licence was later revoked for the remainder of the 2018 season.[4] On 13 November 2018, it was announced that Fenati would return to race in the 2019 Moto3 class.[5] He was included on the provisional 2019 Moto3 entry list released on 16 November 2018, again with the Marinelli Snipers team, re-branded for Moto3 as 'Team O'.[1]

Career

Born in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, Fenati is featured in the 2016 documentary film Il Mago Mancini ("Mancini, the Motorcycle Wizard").[6]

2012

For the 2012 Moto3 season, Fenati signed with Team Italia FMI riding an FTR Honda. At Round 1 in Qatar, he finished 2nd in his debut race. He then went on to claim his first victory at the second race of the season in Jerez, Spain. In doing so, Fenati became the first rider since Noboru Ueda in 1991 to take two podiums in his first two Grand Prix starts and the youngest ever driver in Grand Prix motorcycle racing history to lead the World Championship. He finished at 6th position for championship.[7]

2013

The 2013 season was disappointing for Fenati as he did not record any podium finishes, with his best position being 5th. He finished 10th in the final championship standings, with 73 points.

2014

For the 2014 Moto3 season, Fenati signed with Valentino Rossi's Sky Racing Team by VR46. It was an up and down season for Fenati, as he scored four podiums in the first six races and ultimately recorded four wins during the season. However, inconsistent results ultimately left him in 5th position in the championship with 176 points.

2015

The 2015 season was also an under-performance for Fenati. Though he maintained some consistency finishing in the top five in eight races, including a victory at Le Mans. Poor qualifying positions for Fenati resulted in the loss of vital points, and he finished the season with 176 points as he did in 2014 but placed one position higher in the standings.

2016

Fenati started the 2016 season with a pole position at Qatar, however he only managed 4th in the race. He finished in 20th in Argentina, before his first win of the season in the United States. He was seventh at Jerez, before a second-place finish at Le Mans, losing out to Brad Binder by 0.099 seconds. Fenati qualified on pole at Mugello, but failed to finish the race. He was fourth in both Catalunya and Netherlands, before a pointless 18 position in Germany. Fenati was dropped by Sky Racing VR46 in Austria as a disciplinary action for disagreeing with Uccio Salucci. On 16 August the VR46 team terminated their contract with Romano for the 2016 and 2017 seasons stating behavioural issues in conflict with team policy as the reason behind the split.

2017

In 2017, Fenati joined Marinelli Rivacold Snipers team and had his best season to date: three wins and five second places to finish as runner-up in the Moto3 championship.

2018

On 9 September 2018, at the 2018 San Marino Grand Prix, Fenati was immediately disqualified after grabbing the front brake lever of rival rider Stefano Manzi,[8] which resulted in a two-race ban. His Marinelli Snipers team then terminated their contract with Fenati following the incident.[9] In November 2018 it was announced that he would return for the 2019 season in the Moto3 class.[10][1]

Controversy

Fenati has interfered with other riders a number of times. In the 2015 Argentine Grand Prix, he kicked Niklas Ajo during the warm-up and also turned Ajo's engine off during the practice start. As a consequence he was forced to start the race at the back of the field.[11] The following year he was sacked from the VR46 team for undisclosed disciplinary reasons.[12]

In September 2018, Fenati pulled Stefano Manzi's front brake lever during a race when both were travelling at more than 200 km/h (120 mph). He apologized but was dropped from the Marinelli Snipers Team for the offence.[13][14] His future contract to ride for Forward Racing using MV Agusta machines in 2019 was cancelled on 11 September.[15] On 12 September, he announced his immediate retirement from motorcycle competition and criticised Manzi for escaping criticism for his part in the controversy.[16] It was later reported that Fenati could be investigated for attempted murder: Italian consumer-rights group Codacons announced that it had reported Fenati to local prosecutors, asking authorities to investigate "any relevant criminal offences, including that of attempted murder".[17]

On 21 September, in addition to a preliminary two-race ban imposed earlier, after meeting with the FIM at their headquarters in Mies, Switzerland, on 18 September, it was announced that Fenati's racing licence was revoked for the remainder of the 2018 season.[4] He made a comeback to Moto3 for the 2019 season.

Career statistics

By season

Season Class Motorcycle Team Number Race Win Podium Pole Flap Pts Plcd
2012 Moto3 FTR Honda Team Italia FMI 5 17 1 4 0 2 136 6th
2013 Moto3 FTR Honda San Carlo Team Italia 5 17 0 0 0 0 73 10th
2014 Moto3 KTM SKY Racing Team VR46 5 18 4 6 0 3 176 5th
2015 Moto3 KTM SKY Racing Team VR46 5 18 1 3 1 1 176 4th
2016 Moto3 KTM SKY Racing Team VR46 5 9 1 2 2 2 93 10th
2017 Moto3 Honda Marinelli Rivacold Snipers 5 18 3 8 1 2 248 2nd
2018 Moto2 Kalex Marinelli Snipers Moto2 13 12 0 0 0 0 14 21st
2019 Moto3 Honda VNE Snipers 55 16 1 1 0 2 76 16th
2020 Moto3 Husqvarna Sterilgarda Max Racing Team 55 15 1 1 0 1 77 14th
Total 140 12 25 4 13 1069

By class

Class Seasons 1st GP 1st Pod 1st Win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp
Moto3 2012–2017, 2019–present 2012 Qatar 2012 Qatar 2012 Spain 128 12 25 4 13 1055 0
Moto2 2018 2018 Qatar 12 0 0 0 0 14 0
Total 2012–Present 140 12 25 4 13 1069 0

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Pos Pts
2012 Moto3 FTR Honda QAT
2
SPA
1
POR
Ret
FRA
Ret
CAT
9
GBR
7
NED
12
GER
24
ITA
2
IND
5
CZE
8
RSM
3
ARA
Ret
JPN
10
MAL
20
AUS
6
VAL
18
6th 136
2013 Moto3 FTR Honda QAT
15
AME
Ret
SPA
9
FRA
7
ITA
Ret
CAT
15
NED
14
GER
13
IND
9
CZE
18
GBR
12
RSM
10
ARA
8
MAL
9
AUS
14
JPN
5
VAL
11
10th 73
2014 Moto3 KTM QAT
12
AME
2
ARG
1
SPA
1
FRA
Ret
ITA
1
CAT
5
NED
18
GER
Ret
IND
2
CZE
11
GBR
16
RSM
11
ARA
1
JPN
7
AUS
Ret
MAL
Ret
VAL
14
5th 176
2015 Moto3 KTM QAT
Ret
AME
8
ARG
8
SPA
6
FRA
1
ITA
3
CAT
8
NED
5
GER
4
IND
4
CZE
6
GBR
12
RSM
4
ARA
3
JPN
28
AUS
6
MAL
5
VAL
Ret
4th 176
2016 Moto3 KTM QAT
4
ARG
20
AME
1
SPA
7
FRA
2
ITA
Ret
CAT
4
NED
4
GER
18
AUT
DNS
CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 10th 93
2017 Moto3 Honda QAT
5
ARG
7
AME
1
SPA
2
FRA
Ret
ITA
13
CAT
2
NED
2
GER
2
CZE
2
AUT
13
GBR
7
RSM
1
ARA
10
JPN
1
AUS
6
MAL
7
VAL
4
2nd 248
2018 Moto2 Kalex QAT
24
ARG
19
AME
16
SPA
Ret
FRA
7
ITA
Ret
CAT
Ret
NED
Ret
GER
16
CZE
Ret
AUT
11
GBR
C
RSM
DSQ
ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 21st 14
2019 Moto3 Honda QAT
9
ARG
16
AME
Ret
SPA
Ret
FRA
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAT
7
NED
11
GER
4
CZE
8
AUT
1
GBR
Ret
RSM
DNS
ARA THA JPN
Ret
AUS
12
MAL
11
VAL
17
16th 76
2020 Moto3 Husqvarna QAT
17
SPA
13
ANC
12
CZE
9
AUT
17
STY
17
RSM
8
EMI
1
CAT
6
FRA
Ret
ARA
4
TER
19
EUR
13
VAL
12
POR
20
14th 77

References

  1. "2019 provisional entry lists revealed". motogp.com. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  2. "European Championship 125cc Albacete: trionfo italiano, Romano Fenati è campione europeo" (in Italian). Corsedimoto. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  3. "Romano Fenati retires from motorcycling after being sacked for pulling brake of Moto2 rival Stefano Manzi". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  4. Fenati's FIM licence withdrawn for remainder of 2018 motorsport.com, 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018
  5. "Fenati set to make Grand Prix return in 2019". motogp.com. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  6. "Il Mago Mancini (2016), di Jeffrey Zani" (in Italian). CinemaItaliano.info. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  7. Lewis, Lisa (29 April 2012). "Fantastic Fenati romps to first win". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  8. "Watch: Moto2 rider disqualified for grabbing rival's brake lever".
  9. sport, Guardian (10 September 2018). "Romano Fenati sacked by team after pulling rival's brake lever at high speed". the Guardian.
  10. Romano Fenati: Rider banned for pulling Stefano Manzi brake lever to return BBC Sport, Motorsport, 19 November 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2018
  11. "MotoGP racer kicks competitor while going around a corner, then shuts off his bike". USA Today. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  12. "Rossi confirms Romano Fenati has left the VR46 team". GPxtra. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  13. "Sacked Fenati apologises for grabbing rival rider's brake". Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  14. Church, Ben. "Romano Fenati: Moto2 rider apologizes for grabbing rival's brake". CNN. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  15. "Fenati out of MV Agusta and Forward Racing Team project". MotoGP.com. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  16. "Romano Fenati retires after having his Moto2 contract cancelled over Stefano Manzi clash". Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  17. "Motorcycle Racer Fired From Team After Grabbing Competitor's Brake During Race". roadandtrack.com. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Maverick Viñales
European 125cc
Champion

2011
Succeeded by
Matteo Ferrari
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