After a long haul of negative media attention, some misfortune on the track and a reformed attitude, Fenati won the Austrian GP race in Moto3.
The Italian has come under scrutiny for his hot-headed behaviour on the track with other riders.
Controversy heightened for Fenati last year at his home race in Misano, Italy.
He was black flagged during the race after he attempted to grab Stefano Manzi’s brake lever.
The FIM MotoGP stewards immediately issued Fenati with a two-race ban, six races out from season end.
Upon further consideration, the FIM decided to revoke Fenati’s racing licence until the end of 2018, due to the “egregious and shocking” act.
The 22-year-old had his contract terminated by Marinelli Snipers who cited Fenati’s “unsporting, dangerous and damaging conduct” as the reason for the sacking.
The contract he signed with MV Agusta for the 2019 Moto2 season was also terminated.
In 2015, Fenati came under fire after he kicked rider Niklas Ajo during a race warm up lap.
He also turned off Ajo’s engine during a practice start.
At the time, Fenati rode for Valentino Rossi’s Moto3 team, Sky Racing VR46.
The team terminated his 2016 and 2017 season contract, stating behavioural issues in conflict with team policy as the reason.
Fenati’s Moto2 team from last year gave him a second chance and brought Fenati back to the Marinelli Sniper family for 2019.
It was a return to Moto3 for Fenati, rather the intermediate class of Moto2, where he had only ridden for one year.
Marinelli Sniper Tech Chief Mirko Cecchini explained that Fenati wanted to move back down to the Moto3 class to start his career from scratch.
“It’s like he would like to start from zero,” Cecchini said.
“This is a new life for him.
“He made a mistake, a big mistake … we push together, to begin a new life, together.”
The past year has been heavy for the young rider, who has been greatly scrutinised by the media and fans, particularly in the latter half of 2018.
At the time, MotoGP rider Aleix Espargaro acknowledged that Fenati’s actions were incorrect but the backlash had gone too far.
“The result is that we are treating him as a murderer,” Espargaro said.
“It is crazy; he is just a kid riding a bike.”
Fenati was remorseful for his wrong doings and apologised.
“I think back to those moments; I made a disgraceful gesture, I was not a man,” Fenati said.
In 2019, Fenati has shown reformed, cautious and considerate behaviour on and off the track.
At the season opening race in Qatar, Fenati was sent a “track limits” warning on his dashboard.
He misunderstood the warning as a penalty notification and took the long lap penalty, a misjudgement which saw him drop from third position to thirteenth after losing a second and a half.
It was a display of Fenati’s new overly cautious behaviour, and his desire not to break any rules.
This victory marks his first Grand Prix win since the Japanese GP in 2017.
Fenati has finished in the top 10 on only five occasions this season, largely due to four race crashes early on in the season.
His win at the Austrian GP should give him a good confidence boost for the remainder of the season.
He was, after all, the 2017 Moto3 Champion runner-up.
Fenati is currently in ninth position in the Moto3 Championship, 88 points behind a first place Lorenzo Dalla Porta, on 155 points.
Catch more Grand Prix action at the British GP on Sunday, August 25, at 10:00 pm for the MotoGP category.
Moto3 Austrian GP Results (Round 11)
- Romano Fenati (ITA)Honda
- Tony Arbolino (ITA) Honda
- John McPhee (GBR) Honda
- Celestino Vietti (ITA) KTM
- Marcos Ramirez (SPA) Honda
- Lorenzo Dalla Porta (ITA) Honda
- Makar Yurchenko (KAZ) KTM
- Jakub Kornfeil (CZE) KTM
- Niccolò Antonelli (ITA) Honda
- Aron Canet (SPA) KTM
- Albert Arenas (SPA) KTM
- Ai Ogura (JPN) Honda
- Ayumu Sasaki (JPN) Honda
- Dennis Foggia (ITA) KTM
- Darryn Binder (RSA) KTM
- Alonso Lopez (SPA) Honda
- Deniz Ogura (TUR) KTM
- Kaito Toba (JAP) Honda
- Filip Salac (CZE) KTM
- Maximilian Kofler (AUT) KTM
- Jeremy Alcoba (SPA) Honda
- Stefano Nepa (ITA) KTM
- Riccardo Rossi (ITA) Honda
- Kazuki Masaki (JPN) KTM
- Tom Booth-Amos (GBR) KTM
- Andrea Migno (ITA) KTM
- Sergio Garcia (SPA) Honda (+ 1 lap)
DID NOT FINISH
Jaume Masia (SPA) KTM
Raul Fernandez (SPA) KTM
Can Oncu (TUR) KTM
Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN) Honda
