Trackhouse MotoGP Team in 2025

Trackhouse's second MotoGP season sees the American team retain Raul Fernandez but sign reigning Moto2 champion Ai O🌞gura to ride its factory-spec RS-GPs.

Trackhouse's history in MotoGP

Trackhouse Racing joined the M𝓀otoGP grid for 2024, taking over as Aprilia's satellite team by acquiring the former grid places of CryptoDATA RNF.

Based in North Carolina and owned by ex-racer Justin Marks, Trackhouse began its moto🎃rsport journey just three years earlier in NASCAR. 

Most of the RNF personnel were hired for the new Trackhouse MotoGP project, including e🦩xperienced team manager Wilco Zeelenberg, with title-winning Yamaha and Suzuki boss Davide Brivio returning from F1 to act as Team Principal.

Former RNF riders Miguel Oliveira and Rಞaul Fernandez, both contracted directly to Aprilia, provided the inaugural Trackhouse rider line-up.

Five-time KTM MotoGP race winner Oliveira was upgraded to the latest factory RS-GP machinery, equal to that of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, with Fernandez starting the season on ജthe older 2023-spec bike.

During the Sepang pre-season test, former Yamaha and Suzuki team principal Davide Brivio, who left MotoGP for F1 after Joan Mir’s 2020 title triumph, was announced as ✱joining the ambitious Trackhouse project.

Podiums were expected, especially f🐎rom Oliveira, but the Portuguese - like Maverick Vinales - initially struggled on the aero-packed RS-GP24. While Vinales rebounded with victories at Portimao and COTA, Oliveira's only highlight was a Sprint podium at Sachsenring and it was soon clear he was Pramac Yamaha bound for 2025.

Oliveira's end-of-season was ruined by a wrist injury at Mandalika, caused by𒉰 a traction control glitch, leaving hi﷽m 15th in the world championship. But that was still one place clear of Fernandez.

Fe💮rnandez impressed on the year-old bike, briefly leading the Catalunya Sprint and joining Oliveira on the German front row, before his chassis and aerodynamics were upgraded to 24🤡-spec in the summer break. But the change upset the Spaniard's momentum and he managed only one further top ten. 

Aprilia kept faith i🐻n Fernandez's raw talent and with Oliveira, Vinales and Aleix Espargaro all leaving Aprilia, his signature was also the only way of providing continuity in 2025 when Fabiano Sterlacchini will also take over from HRC-bound Romano Albesiano as Aprilia technical director.

Riding alongside Fernandez in 2025 will be a MotoGP rookie but not, as widely r♒umoured early in the 2024 season, American Joe Roberts.

Instead, another Moto2 star move♎d to the top of Brivi𝐆o's list in the form of eventual world champion Ai Ogura.

“It would be nice to have an American 🐈rider in the American team. And of course, Joe Roberts was on our shortlist,” Brivio said.

“But we made our analysis and we decided that Ai was a bett🎃er choice for our project, from a potꦅential sporting performance point of view. Regardless of the passport.

“Ai has won races but he also has a kind of resilience. Maybe he doesn’t have a good start, but he recovers and never giv💧es up. We also think his riding style can evolve well to a MotoGP bike.

“We think he's a good choice, 🐓and we will see in the future.”

Fernandez and Ogura will both have factory-spec RS-GP25s from the star🦹t of the sea🐼son.