RideFast Dec 2019

PADDOCK NEWS
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Karel Abraham gets the boot via
email - Zarco takes his place.
On Saturday night, Karel Abraham told a
meeting of his fans that he would not be
back in MotoGP. The Czech rider found out
on Friday that the Avintia team wanted to
end their relationship, when he received an
email from a notary representing the team
stating in Spanish that the team would be
terminating his contract.
The move can as a massive shock
to Abraham. It had been completely
unexpected, as he had been told at Valencia
that he would be back with the team in 2020,
and to turn up for the test at Jerez. Only on
Saturday was he told not to travel to Jerez.
Abraham had already made arrangements,
however. He also needed to recover his
leathers and various other belongings which
had been sitting in the Avintia truck when it
was driven to Jerez for the test.
While he was at the Jerez circuit picking
up his belongings, Israeli TV commentator
Tammy Gorali, present in Jerez to report on
the test, grabbed him and spoke to him for
on our behalf. That gave Abraham a chance
to give his side of the story.
Surprise
“As much as many people were surprised,
I was very surprised, because I absolutely
didn’t expect it,” the Czech rider told Tammy
Gorali. “Well, you could say I could have
expected it, the season was not great. Yes, I
agree, that’s true, but OK, we had a twoyears
deal.”
Abraham’s contract with Avintia ran through
2019 and 2020, and talks had already taken
place about improving the performance of
Abraham and the team next season, the Czech
rider said, and even prospects beyond that.
“In the middle of the season I came to the
team and said hey, look, we need to talk, do
you want me to stay? And they were ‘yeah
everything is going in line and everything
is perfect and great’. But since we had this
meeting, we also were talking about 2021,
because Tito also signed a two-year contract.”
Things in the team had taken a turn for the
worse after that, Abraham told Gorali. “Since
then things were not working really great,”
he said. “When we came to Malaysia the guy
from Ohlins was not in our team.
“Our Ohlins guy was in Malaysia, but he was
not allowed to work with us, because there
were some issues.” Abraham would not be
drawn on what those issues were, though
he hinted at what they might be. “If you try to
find out, it’s quite simple.”
Looking for Solutions
Those problems had been cause for
Abraham to sit down with the team to try to
work out a solution for next year.
“We said, OK, look, everything is more or less
alright, but there are a couple of things which
we are not happy about and want to talk
about. And we wanted to have a meeting in
Sepang, which we did, we wanted to have a
meeting again in Valencia, which we also did.”
When rumors that Avintia was looking at
putting Johann Zarco in the team in place of
Abraham, the Czech rider spoke to Ruben
Xaus, who handles team management
together with Raul Romero. Xaus told
Abraham he did not need to be concerned,
Abraham told Gorali.
“So we talked in Valencia again, and after the
rumors with Zarco, I went to Ruben again,
multiple times actually, and asked what is
going on, is it happening or not happening?
And on Tuesday – he missed the last day of
testing on Wednesday – he confirmed and
said don’t worry, you have your contract,
everything is as it should be. I asked if they
were talking to Zarco and he said ‘No, we are
absolutely not talking to Zarco, this is just
some rumors, it’s not true.’”
That reassured Abraham. “So I said OK,I did
one day of testing, which was not bad, then
I went back home. We texted a couple of
times with Ruben, but he did not answer, but
I did not take it seriously.”
Fired by Email
It was only on Friday that Abraham received
an email for the lawyers handling legal
affairs for the team. “Late Friday evening,
I opened my email and I received an email
Words by David Emmett
from a notary,” Abraham told Gorali.
“I opened it and it was in full Spanish, not
English or Czech, saying ‘Hello Mr Abraham,
I am the notary of Esponsorama [the
organization behind the Avintia team – DE],
these are the documents and paperwork
that this is the official notary’.”
Because everything was in Spanish,
Abraham could only get the broad lines of
what the email was saying.
Professional translation services were shut,
it being Friday night, so Abraham had to use
an online service to get a rough sense of the
contents of the email.
“When we put it into a translator, it was
quiet clear that it was the termination of our
contract. So we texted Ruben again, with
‘Hey, what is this?’ No answer.”
Abraham tried texting repeatedly, to no avail.
“We texted him multiple times, but we didn’t
receive any answer from him,” he said.
“But on the next day, Saturday, I texted him
again saying ‘Hey, Ruben look, you sent me
this Spanish email, I have no idea what is in
it and tomorrow I am leaving to Jerez, should
I go to Jerez or not?’ Only then I received a
message saying, ‘Correct, it’s the termination
of the contract, don’t come to Jerez, and stop
communication with me.’”
Poor Form
The way that Xaus had handled that had
come as a real blow to Abraham, he told
Gorali. “I am disappointed because he was
always this kind of friendly guy, he borrowed
a car from me, he went with me to the
hotel, or in Australia we spent a lot of time
together, very friendly.”
“And then he says ‘don’t talk to me anymore’.
So I was like, “Are you serious? You are
basically kicking me in the ass after the
season is done and while we have a
contract, and not even talking to me?”
Abraham had expected someone in the team
to at least have the decency to phone him
to explain, he told Gorali. “OK, Raul doesn’t
speak English, but Ruben or somebody else, I
don’t care who, they could pick up the phone
and say ‘Hey Karel, this is the situation.’”
“But they said nothing. I am also here in Jerez
because as you can see I did not expect this,
because they assured me it’s not happening,
and I have all my stuff in the track, so I just
came to pick it up and then I am gone. But it
was a big surprise for me too.”
Abraham had been given the ride in the
Avintia team on the understanding that he
would bring sponsorship to the team. The
Czech rider insisted that he and his sponsors
had paid the agreed sum for 2019 in full, but
acknowledged that early payments for 2020
had been put on hold, because he wanted to
get assurances about changes in the team
for next season.
Leverage
“What you hear is halfway true,” Abraham
told Tammy Gorali. “This is what they used
to kick me out, but honestly, all of 2019
is paid for, there was no doubt. 2019 was
completely paid for.”
“There were some payments we were
supposed to make for the 2020 season,
but we did not pay them and postponed
them, not for months, we are talking days.
We postponed them because we had some
doubts about things happening in the team.”
The postponed payments were part of the
negotiations for 2020, especially in light
of losing an Öhlins technician in Malaysia,
Abraham explained.
“First of all, we postponed the payments
because we did not get what we agreed in
the contract, for example the Öhlins guy was
missing and many other things happening.
So we said hey, we want to talk about the
next season before we fully commit.”
“And they said, OK, we will talk in Malaysia,
which we did, but there were new issues
coming, so we said we will talk one more
time in Valencia, and then we will proceed.
In Valencia we agreed, we still wanted to
do some adjustments, so we sent some
proposals, but we received no answer, but
the termination of the contract.”
The postponed payments were used as the
reason to terminate the contract, according
to Abraham. “This is why they said they are
kicking us out. Because we didn’t pay in time,
because we broke the contract,” the Czech
rider said. “But really, it’s not true, because
we agreed to have those meetings, and
postponed the payments.”
Why Zarco?
Though Abraham repeatedly said he had
nothing against Johann Zarco, he was at
a loss to explain why the Frenchman had
been given his job. “I was talking to Ducati
at Valencia during the test, not to Gigi but
somebody else, and they told me they are not
supporting Zarco,” Abraham told Gorali.
“They are not against him, but they are not
supporting him, so they are not giving him
better material, they are not giving him a
discount on the bike. They told me that Avintia
has one contract, and it doesn’t matter which
rider is on the bike, this is the bike they get at
this price. This is what Ducati told me. If it’s
going to be like this, I don’t know.”
Abraham said that he had no knowledge
of the situation beyond Avintia wanting
to break the contract. “I know what is
happening on my side, but I don’t know what
is happening on Avintia and Zarco,” he said.
“Honestly, I’m not even 100% sure it’s Zarco.
It’s quite obvious, but not confirmed. So, I
think it will be Zarco who is replacing me,
but I didn’t see the contract, I didn’t see the
official announcement or anything. It’s just
one guy, and everybody is talking about him,
so it looks like it’s going to be him.”
He was surprised that Zarco was still being
linked to Avintia after the Frenchman’s
cutting comments about the team over the
Valencia race weekend. Zarco had said he
would rather not ride for Avintia, as Avintia
was not ‘a top team’. “I’m not the one to judge
Zarco’s moves,” Abraham said.
“It’s his choice. But he was in a factory team.
I know he didn’t like the bike that much, but
he was in a factory team. He got a very good
salary and everything was set. Next year,
the rumors say that quite a few riders will
leave factory teams, so good opportunities,
everything.”
“Anyway, Zarco left this team. He didn’t talk
very well about them,” Abraham said. “After
he didn’t even talk very well about Avintia.
Then he fights for it, for Ducati Avintia team.
He fights after going out of factory team,
after saying bad things about Avintia. This
is something that I don’t really understand,
but this is the business of Zarco, not mine
anymore.”
Uncertain Future
The whole situation was so fresh that
Abraham had not yet decided on a course of
action, he said. “Because it just happened on
Friday night, so it is one day and one night
away. We didn’t even make official translation
yet, which we will do during the week.
Then we will proceed to take the actions, but
what are the actions we are not sure yet. We
really don’t know. We don’t know what is in
the letters that we received. We have to take
the package together and think about it.”
The overriding feeling for Abraham was
anger mixed with disappointment, he told
Tammy Gorali. “I am sad that I’m not racing,
but mostly now I’m angry and disappointed,
especially disappointed because to do this is
really strange. They know that they received
all the money from us, so they knew that
they are going to receive all the money.”
“In the paddock you can ask. There is nobody
that we didn’t pay. In the past every time
when we were supposed to do something,
it happened. We don’t have a history of
something bad.”
The whole situation had left Abraham
uncertain of his next move. “For the moment,
it’s very fresh, but I’m not planning to stay in
a racing environment,” he said. “Apart from
the Brno circuit, obviously, which we are
running. But MotoGP, world championship,
I’m not planning for the moment to stay.”
Abraham was aware that he was only giving
his side of the story, but he also believed
that his history, and the history of the
Avintia team, would bear him out. “Obviously
everybody can say that there are two sides
that you have to look at. I think you should
look into my history.”
20 RIDEFAST MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2019 RIDEFAST MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2019 21