Trackhouse Racing is the new satellite team of Aprilia in MotoGP, taking the place of the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team – which controversially left the championship after a troubled 2023 season.
The original plans were to continue with RNF in 2024, but the American group was already in line for 2025 – as revealed by Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola on the Mister Helmet podcast: ‘The idea was to do another year because the contract with RNF was for another year, and then switch to the Americans. The Americans arrived during the year‘.
About the choice and timing in which Trackhouse Racing emerged, Rivola said: ‘We chose each other among many – also thanks to an old friendship of mine from four wheels… let’s say they saw in us and we saw in them an important opportunity for the future. Then came the call from Dorna saying that the opportunity existed immediately‘.
Although RNF came to an end in a tumultuous way, Rivola emphasized that he maintained a good relationship with its founder, Razlan Razali: ‘I maintained a good relationship with Razlan, because let’s not forget that Razlan and I made the agreement in early 2022 and finalized it in Mugello because I said, “I want to do things calmly, well done, because we have to prepare our team, we have to hire people, and so we have to be ready in Mugello.” And that’s what we did. Then the end of the year came, he lost the main sponsor, Dorna came, put these others here‘.
