– When Trackhouse Racing entered MotoGP at the end of 2023, the project was above all ambitious. An American team wanted to establish itself in the premier class, initially as an independent team with Aprilia equipment.
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A few years later, the team regularly fights for podiums and victories. Davide Brivio has a large share in this. The former Yamaha and Suzuki team manager brought his experience from successful factory teams since his arrival in 2024 and helped give Trackhouse a clear structure.
For Brivio, the ambition was from the start bigger than just participating. The Italian recalls: The vision was not just to keep up, but to become one of the strongest independent teams in the paddock in the long term.
“With Justin Marks, the owner of Trackhouse, you always dream big and set ambitious goals. You aim for things that seem almost unrealistic at the moment. But I think it is important to dream,” Brivio says in an interview with Motorsport.com, a partner of Motorsport-Total.com.
For Brivio, it was mainly about shifting the classic boundary between factory teams and satellite teams. Even though the perception in MotoGP has changed, there are still clear differences – for example, “in financial, personnel, and technological resources.”
The ambition: to compensate for these disadvantages through organization, development, and teamwork. “The goal was to establish ourselves as a fixed presence in the paddock, to fight at the top, and to be perceived as one of the top teams.”
Trackhouse-Aprilia: From underdog to contender
Trackhouse’s development progressed faster than many had expected. After entering in 2024, the team finished its rookie season in ninth place in the team standings. In 2025, the next step followed with seventh place. Team manager Brivio sees this as confirmation of the original plan. “Our goal this year is to surpass this seventh place,” he states.
The path there reminds Brivio of earlier stages in his career – but with completely different conditions. At Yamaha, he worked during a phase when the team had gone twelve years without a world championship title and without major successes.
With Valentino Rossi, a successful era then began. Suzuki, on the other hand, was a completely different project: a rebuild without existing structures.
“Suzuki was a project that was built completely from scratch. In a way, it is easier to start from scratch than to join an existing structure and want to change it,” the Italian admits.
Trackhouse was again a completely different challenge. “I had only worked with Japanese factory teams, while this is an American independent team working with Aprilia, an Italian manufacturer. It was a completely different environment,” Brivio compares.
But that was exactly what made it appealing: “Step by step, through hard work, and thanks to all the people in the team as well as the colleagues, we have grown together.”
Difficult farewell: Why Brivio wanted to create clarity early
Despite the successful development, Brivio will leave Trackhouse. From his point of view, the decision was made consciously early to give the team planning security. Francesco Guidotti was chosen as his successor, who already brings a lot of experience from MotoGP. Brivio also had a share in that.
“Actually, I suggested his name to Justin when I told him that I would not stay,” he reveals that he himself brought Guidotti into the conversation.
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For the Italian, it was especially important not to create an abrupt break. He did not want to work for months on building the future – also regarding rider selection – only to suddenly announce his departure later.
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“I did not want to negotiate with riders, advise Trackhouse on rider decisions, or assemble the team for the next season with mechanics and engineers and then suddenly say: ‘By the way, next year I won’t be here anymore.’ That would not have been fair,” emphasizes Brivio. That is why he communicated his decision to the team “as early as possible.”
From his point of view, Guidotti is an ideal solution because he does not need a long adjustment phase. “Francesco has enormous experience. He is practically a plug-and-play solution, someone who can start immediately,” while Brivio focuses on successfully completing the current season.
Trackhouse and Aprilia: More than just a satellite team?
A decisive factor for this is and remains the cooperation with Aprilia. The relationship between both sides is now considered particularly close. Unlike classic customer teams, Trackhouse receives deep insight into technical developments and in turn provides data back to the manufacturer.
Brivio does not see the cooperation as a one-sided advantage. Most of the development work is indeed done by the factory team. Trackhouse’s biggest contribution is through the data: “Maybe we help the most through data exchange and by showing what our riders do differently than others.”
Especially the different riding styles of Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez provide Aprilia with valuable information. “If Ogura does certain things differently or Raul succeeds particularly well at something, the engineers look at our data,” says Brivio.
There were even cases where Trackhouse worked with components that Aprilia was initially not fully convinced of. “Last year we used a chassis they were not completely convinced of. We raced with it, and later in the season they used it themselves.”
For Brivio, it is therefore clear: Trackhouse is not a factory team, but the cooperation with Aprilia goes far beyond a normal customer relationship.
Free rein in the title fight? Brivio trusts Aprilia’s attitude
This is ultimately reflected in the results as well. Recently, Trackhouse even had the edge. In the riders’ world championship standings at mid-season, Ai Ogura is only 14 points behind teammate and leader Jorge Martin.
If Trackhouse actually fights for the world championship, the question arises: Would Aprilia intervene and issue team orders? Brivio does not believe so.
He points to the situation at Ducati, where Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin were allowed to fight freely against each other in 2024 despite having the same manufacturer interests. “I have to praise Ducati for how they handled the situation with Bagnaia and Martin. They were allowed to race freely against each other,” he looks back.
Aprilia would also, in his opinion, take this path. He especially refers to technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini: “He always says: ‘As long as an Aprilia wins, I am happy. I don’t care what color the motorcycle is.'” For Brivio, however, this remains theory for now. “This is all still a very early discussion,” he says. Because the first step is to get into this position at all.
Regardless of where Trackhouse will end up at the end of the season, Brivio already emphasizes: “When I look back, I am proud of what we have achieved. But now it is time to look forward.” In 2027, the Italian will move to HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) as a strategic advisor.
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