When US-based MotoGP team Trackhouse Racing pulled the covers off its new-look Aprilia RS-GP this week at its NASCAR headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, it was done with a considerable lack of aplomb - and served as something of a metaphor for the disappointment and failed potential that has so far followed the team’s time in the series.
Having now seen how the works Aprilia and Gresini Ducati teams kicked off their seasons, the contrast to Trackhouse’s muted event feels even more stark a few days on.
When the NASCAR frontrunner was first announced as taking over the former RNF Racing grid spots and bikes at the end of 2023, it came with something of a wave of excitement, given Trackhouse’s reputation in the world of US stock car racing - where it had made a name for itself not only with its results on track but also its social media and fan engagement.
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It was expected to bring some of that American flair to MotoGP and help unlock that crucial market for the series too.
Trackhouse started strongly with its first team launch, assembling legends of American racing such as Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey and John Kocinski to pull the covers off a stars and stripes themed bike on Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard, and it looked like we were finally going to get something that had been absent from the paddock.
Year one was, of course, a tough one for Trackhouse. A mid-season bike swap for Raul Fernandez from the 2023 to ‘24 Aprilia and injuries for Miguel Oliveira meant its campaign never really got going - but, with a brand new squad thrown together at the eleventh hour, it was always going to be a year where results weren’t the most important thing.
However, it’s not unfair to say that it was off the track rather than on it where Trackhouse disappointed the most. There hasn’t really been any of what we expected from it in terms of flair, and especially with the appointment of former Suzuki team boss Davide Brivio to head up the project, it’s very much felt like just another European led MotoGP team.
This year’s launch was an altogether much more muted affair than the previous LA event, even with the addition of NASCAR drivers Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Shane van Gisbergen to the mix. No media were in attendance, and a simple pre-recorded video fronted not by Trackhouse but by MotoGP’s own media team delivered a rather unassuming livery.
There’s clearly been a rather worrying lack of investment into the team, something very much reflected in the bike it unveiled. Sporting just a single sponsor logo, with a small presence from iconic oil brand Gulf, it’s a departure even from 12 months ago, with prominent brands like GoPro seemingly ditching the team after a single season and the old Sterilgarda branding now prominent on the works Aprilias instead.
And with team principal Justin Marks so far largely funding the whole project out of his own pocket, you’ve got to question how long that multimillion dollar commitment can continue before it becomes unviable.
Unfortunately, that’s not something we were able to question Marks about during the team launch, with the Californian native’s scheduled time in front of the media cancelled just as it was supposed to start, leaving Brivio alone to admit that the sponsor market hasn’t exactly been an easy place this year.
The announcement of Trackhouse’s arrival alongside MotoGP’s takeover by US-based Formula 1 bosses Liberty Media promised a radical new look for the series.
But with Liberty’s deal bogged down by a EU monopolies commissioner’s investigation and with Trackhouse yet to make the impact we’d hoped for in the class, it might be a while yet before we see a little bit less ciao and a little bit more yeehaw in MotoGP.
