Trackhouse Racing’s first MotoGP grand prix weekend at Silverstone under its current guise ended abruptly on Sunday, after both riders crashed out on lap one.
Lining up 14th and 15th for Sunday’s race, with Raul Fernandez leading Miguel Oliveira, the pair switched positions in the early stages of the opening lap.
Oliveira then ran wide into Brooklands before an approaching Fernandez fared even worse - tucking the front and wiping out his team-mate.
The Spaniard pointed to his choice of the hard front tyre - which only he and Aleix Espargaro ran on what was a cool day generally unconducive to that choice - and a full fuel tank at the start as factors. But he admitted to making a mistake and profusely apologised to his team for eliminating any chance for Trackhouse to score points.
The unfortunate incident meant the team’s unique MotoGP 75th anniversary retro livery, which celebrated American premier-class winners, had its only outing cut short.
Speaking after the race, Fernandez said: “First of all I would like to say sorry to the team. I crashed and in the moment that I was on the ground, my bike tossed Miguel and I created the crash for Miguel.
“Honestly, it’s quite difficult, because yesterday we had a lot of problems with the softs and on the grid we decided to use the hard front. We thought it was the right choice, but at the beginning of the race maybe I did a small mistake with a full tank and this light rain [spotted at some corners early in the race] and I crashed.
“I didn’t touch Miguel before the crash, I crashed and my bike touched Miguel. But anyway I cannot say a lot, just we worked really well and I feel really bad with myself because at the end it was a really important weekend for the team and because of my crash they don’t get points. S I would like to say sorry to the team.
“For the race we were not ready to be in the top five, but top 10 maybe was realistic, so the bad thing is I lost all the points for me and also Miguel.”
Oliveira, meanwhile, said the incident was “one of those things.”
“Did a couple of corners,” he said. “I was already in the corner when Raul's bike hit mine, and that's it. Not really anything else to say. It's one of those things. Wrong place, wrong time.”
Both riders avoided serious injury in the crash, with Oliveira - whose 2023 was riddled by injuries sustained in multi-bike collisions - left with minor bruises to the coccyx and the leg.
It was an ignominious conclusion to the first weekend Fernandez - who will remain with Trackhouse this year, while Oliveira is expected to leave - had spent with the 2024-spec Aprilia, having run the year-old bike previously this year.
