Aprilia had a satellite team for the first time in MotoGP last year – RNF, which this year gave way to Trackhouse Racing. However, Miguel Oliveira and Raúl Fernández’s season was far from easy.
Throughout the year, both riders experienced some technical issues with the bikes. In 2024, in just the second Grand Prix, it was Maverick Viñales – a rider from Aprilia’s factory team – who had to retire due to a breakdown.
Ramón Forcada, who joined RNF in 2023, said on the podcast Dura la Vita: ‘They had two types of failures, especially last year they had an excess of confidence when they took on the satellite team, they thought they would make it, and they didn’t‘.
The engineer also emphasized: ‘They were doing very well in the official team and didn’t have time to manufacture parts for the satellite team. Most of the problems the satellite team had last year were due to mileage. They didn’t have the capacity to produce parts‘.
RNF finished last year’s team championship in eighth place, with Oliveira’s fourth place in Silverstone as their best result. They had 12 retirements between their two riders, with three races where neither finished.
