The MotoGP World Championship had an experience on Tuesday that could significantly expand its promotion around the world. The championship welcomed the American team Trackhouse Racing, a team from NASCAR, as a new member of the grid. The US structure will take over from RNF Racing, which was not allowed to take part in the 2024 championship due to multiple violations of the participation agreement.
Thus, this new team, owned by the former rider Justin Marks and the singer Pitbull, took over the structure founded by Razlan Razali, including its riders, the Spaniard Raul Fernandez and the Portuguese Miguel Oliveira, and the agreement with Aprilia, of which it will be the satellite structure.
In Trackhouse they are ambitious, as Motorsport.com reported last week and as Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola later confirmed: their plans include greater proximity to the Noale company. This means having official material, in the style of Prima Pramac Racing with Ducati. In short, they want to be a satellite team but with great ambitions.
At the same time, the championship sees this arrival as a golden opportunity to continue its growth, to emerge from the recent popularity crisis and to penetrate the American market. An objective pursued by all motorsport disciplines and which is now achieved by Formula 1, thanks to phenomena such as “Drive to Survive”.
In line with this, Rivola has stepped forward and, this Tuesday, after the presentation of Trackhouse held in Milan, the Italian confirmed to Sky Sport Italia that he had already asked the championship and the promoter Dorna to be able to play a second race on American soil.
“I told Dorna that we will now need a second Grand Prix in the United States,” Rivola said. “I know that work is being done to expand our penetration in the United States. Formula 1 has a great advantage because it can race in cities, on street circuits.”
“We can’t, and we have to find alternative ways. I think we have a unique show. We have had many American champions in the past, and who knows if in the future we will have another with Trackhouse and Aprilia”, continued the Italian.
It should be remembered that MotoGP also had three Grands Prix in the United States in the same season. In 2013, the first edition of the GP of the Americas, in Austin, coincided with the last round at Laguna Seca and the penultimate round at Indianapolis. The Temple of Speed event coincided with the Texas round until 2015. Since 2016, MotoGP visits Austin only at the start of the season, forming a tandem in America with Argentina.
On the other hand, Rivola also commented on Trackhouse’s desire to be a team as close as possible to the official Aprilia team: “We couldn’t miss an opportunity that on paper was very stimulating, both in terms of brand and market. But also on a technical level, because Trackhouse’s needs are important, to have bikes as similar as possible to the official ones. We will try to do our best. It’s fantastic to have an American team in MotoGP, and the fact that it is with Aprilia is really Fantastic”.
Finally, Rivola spoke about Razlan Razali and CryptoDATA, the Romanian sponsor who replaced him as majority shareholder at RNF and who in the end did not keep the promises made to the team: “I felt very comfortable working with Razlan Razali but At the end of last year, he lost his main sponsor and found a solution that didn’t work. I feel sorry for him on a human level, but I am convinced that we will see him again in the paddock, because everyone wanted him in MotoGP. I wish him everything the best, but today we must look forward, not backwards”, he added.
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