There is a lot to be excited about for Aprilia next season. It has snared one of MotoGP’s current best in Jorge Martin from out of Ducati’s clutches; has signed a proven race winner in Marco Bezzecchi; and gained an exciting rookie at Trackhouse in Ai Ogura.

But this does create something of a problem. Aprilia kicked off the 2024 season in fine form, with Maverick Vinales winning the Americas Grand Prix.

Since then, however, it has clearly taken a step back compared to chief rival Ducati, with CEO Massimo Rivola admitting recently that his marque is “doing something wrong” with its RS-GP. It needs to keep developing its bike to remain competitive in 2024 and hold onto a strong foundation for next year’s challenger.

But with Vinales heading to KTM, Aleix Espargaro moving to Honda as a test rider and Miguel Oliveira set to get a factory Yamaha at Pramac, Aprilia is in between a rock and a hard place in terms of how much it actually wants its current roster to develop before taking secrets to rivals.

To boot, development for 2025 will then be picked up by a stable of riders completely new to the RS-GP. That’s not to say they won’t be capable, but with such limited testing time available to riders now, they will have little time to get to grips with the RS-GP before the new campaign begins in Thailand next February.

The one constant Aprilia will have in its line-up in 2025 will be Raul Fernandez, who recently signed a new two-year deal to remain with Trackhouse Racing beyond the end of this season.

On paper, Fernandez’s time on the Aprilia hasn’t seen the record-breaking Moto2 rookie from 2021 flourish in the way he was expected to. Scoring 51 points across the entirety of the 2023 campaign, with a best of fifth at the Valencia GP at the end of the season, Fernandez is currently 16th in the standings after 11 rounds in 2024.

However, he has almost achieved his season tally from last year with a current haul of 46 points and managed a sixth at the Catalan GP a day after qualifying on the front row and leading the sprint before crashing.

It’s worth pointing out that he hasn’t had a straightforward season either, with Fernandez beginning the campaign on the 2023 RS-GP before switching to the 2024 chassis from the British GP. But a crash on the opening lap at Silverstone meant he didn’t get a full grand prix distance on the bike, and mechanical issue late on in Austria denied him the chance to score points.

However, he is just nine points behind team-mate Oliveira, having matched his best grand prix result of the campaign (though the Portuguese rider did manage a sprint podium in Germany). In terms of qualifying speed, the pair have also been pretty evenly matched. Oliveira is winning that battle 6-5, and actually that’s not fully representative because Fernandez set the fastest time of the pair in France – but was knocked out in Q1. Over the first 11 rounds, the average gap is 0.270s, though on all but three occasions have the pair been split by more than 0.2s.

Fernandez has impressed Trackhouse with his feedback and his approach to the Aprilia project this year, and team owner Justin Marks sees the 23-year-old as being vital to the Noale marque going into next year.

“There’s a lot of value in having veteran presence, especially in a sport where all the OEM’s are developing their bikes and experience really matters,” he told motogp.com. “And I think Aprilia has a challenge ahead of us for all four bikes next year, because there’s really only one rider on the Aprilia who’s got experience in Raul. But he’s getting more and more experience, and he’s building his book of knowledge in understanding the bike.

“We really like his feedback and how he’s understanding the development of the Aprilia bike. I don’t want to call him the veteran, but he is amassing a lot of experience now. So, going into next year it will be a few years with the Aprilia bike and he’ll be able to take all that experience and help develop it. And help Ogura too. So, I think it’s a good split for us right now and Raul’s working hard, so he’ll be a good anchor for the team.”

It’s clear Aprilia will look to Martin to lead its charge as a frontrunning force in MotoGP over the next few years, but all signs currently point towards Fernandez being arguably its most important asset in 2025.

Enduring a tough debut with Tech3 KTM in 2022 and failing to kick on much last year with RNF Aprilia, Fernandez has quietly impressed with Trackhouse and his new contract is well-earned.

As Aprilia loses what it has long dubbed its ‘captain’ in the form of Espargaro, who has proven so vital to the brand since he joined it in 2017, it could do a lot worse than pass the armband over to Fernandez if he continues to build on the solid foundations that have impressed it and Trackhouse so much… 

Rivola was part of the official announcement on Sky earlier this week, as Trackhouse Racing took over the RNF Aprilia team for the 2024 MotoGP campaign. 

The new Trackhouse Racing team will be keeping Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez, but what might change is the type of machinery they are on.

The RS-GP will be the bike both rider ride, but Rivola admitted the American team are pushing to have factory bikes, which is something RNF did not have available to them.

Speaking to GPOne, Rivola said this about the new partnership: “We couldn’t miss an opportunity that was very stimulating on paper, both on a brand and on a market level, but also on a technical level because Trackhouse’s demandes are important in order to provide bikes as similar to the factory ones as possible. 

“It’s great to have an American team in MotoGP and the fact it is with Aprilia is really cool.”

Rivola also spoke about the need for their to be a bigger MotoGP presence in America, whether that’s with a second grand prix in the States, or having a bigger American contingency in the sport. 

Rivola said: “That’s how it’s going to have to be. The thing I told Dorna was that we’ll now need a second Grand Prix in the north of the United States. 

“I know that work is being done to expand our growth in the USA. Formula 1 has a huge advantage because they can race in the city. 

“We can’t and we have to find alternative ways. I think we have a unique show. 

“We’ve had many American champions in the past and who knows in the future if we’ll have another one with Trackhouse and Aprilia.”

After repeated infractions and breaches of the Participation Agreement, Dorna Sports announced it would not be allowing RNF to continue in the sport. 

As a result, Razlan Razali left his post as founder of RNF and relented Team Owner duties.

That paved the way for American brand Trackhouse Racing to swoop in and become the new boys in MotoGP.

But who are Trackhouse Racing?

Trackhouse Racing is owned by Justin Marks and Music star Pitbull. They first made their racing debut by joining Nascar in 2021.

They have won six races in the Nascar Cup, most notably with Shane Van Gisbergen when the Kiwi made his debut in the series this year.

Trackhouse Racing has also had longtime F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen compete for them as part of their Project91 team, the same team Van Gisbergen drove for in 2023.

How is Pitbull involved? 

Pitbull part-owns the team alongside Marks and has had huge involvement since their partnership began. 

The musician, known as ‘Mr Worldwide’ said this when Trackhouse Racing was first created:  “The whole initiative when we got together with Trackhouse was all about uniting people and creating an awareness for Trackhouse and also for the sport of NASCAR. 

“I feel like music is a universal language, it unites, it doesn’t divide and it’s the same way you utilise the race car and how everybody loves racing so you put them together and to me, that’s what it’s all about.”

Plans for MotoGP in 2024…

As part of their takeover, Trackhouse Racing will be relying on current riders Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez, thus no changes are taking place at the American team. 

In terms of the machinery, Oliveira and Fernandez will again be using RS-GP Aprilia bikes, although it remains to be seen whether one of both riders will be given a 2024 factory bike.

What Trackhouse Racing means for American talent?

Like in Moto2, the introduction of the American Racing team meant new opportunities for American riders such as Cameron Beaubier and Sean Dylan Kelly.

Both of those riders have since left the grand prix paddock, with only Joe Roberts representing the United States.

But with Trackhouse Racing coming into the sport it should open more doors for American talent. 

During the team’s presentation their unofficial livery paid homage to Nicky Hayden in the form of a previous testing colour scheme.

Speaking about the decision to join MotoGP, Marks said: “Joining the MotoGP World Championship is a very exciting moment for our young company. 

“Trackhouse has worked from day one to recognize unique and compelling motorsport opportunities and being able to expand to a global series like MotoGP is a massive step in scaling the company. 

“We believe deeply in the mission of Dorna and are committed to bringing something new and exciting to the championship while working hard to help grow and amplify this amazing sport to millions of new fans in North America and beyond.”

Trackhouse Racing has taken over the Aprilia satellite team after Razlan Razali’s RNF Racing discontinued.

Trackhouse began their journey in motorsport three years ago when they joined the NASCAR series. 

The Trackhouse livery is based on Nicky Hayden’s 2008 Ducati test livery #MotoGP pic.twitter.com/tOJL2FShXK

— Crash MotoGP (@crash_motogp) December 5, 2023

Despite the significant changes at the top, the rider line-up of Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira will remain the same. 

Trackhouse Racing showcased their bike presentation with an all-American look as the RS-GP bike was covered with the red, white and blue, including stars on the front fairing.

Justin Marks is the owner of Trackhouse.

“I’m a student of the game, I love all forms of motorsports,” Marks said at his new team’s launch.

“I love experiencing all the different types of motorsport events.”

The rift between the RNF Racing team and Dorna has also come to a solution.

Dorna had voided its contract with RNF due to ‘repeated infractions and breaches of the Participation Agreement affecting the public image of MotoGP’.

An amicable agreement will prevent legal action, it was confirmed moments before Trackhouse’s launch.

Dorna confirmed: “Dorna, IRTA [International Race Team Association] and RNF have been able to amicably solve their differences that arose in the last part of the 2023 season.

“Although the RNF Team will not participate in the 2024 season of MotoGP, Dorna and IRTA wish the best of success to RNF and CryptoDATA in their commercial ventures.”