– Raul Fernandez was very upset when he learned that team principal Davide Brivio would leave the Trackhouse team at the end of the 2026 MotoGP season. The Italian will move to Honda and take on an advisory role in management there.
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Trackhouse boss Justin Marks recently traveled to the race weekend in Barcelona. There, the US racing team officially confirmed Brivio’s departure. Behind the scenes in the paddock, people were informed a little earlier.
Fernandez received the news a week earlier at the race weekend in France. “On Thursday, I heard the news about Davide. Honestly, it didn’t really help me,” the Spaniard recalls about Le Mans.
“Sometimes I have to stop thinking too much about things I can’t control. I don’t want to think about what will happen to the team. Justin will surely find the best solution for the team.”
For Fernandez, Brivio’s departure was “a big surprise” that he “did not expect.” Brivio was an important support for the 25-year-old in the team. Many talks were held behind the scenes last year.
These helped Fernandez mentally immensely so that he could unfold his potential on the track. His performances improved noticeably. In autumn 2025, he made a first statement with third place in the sprint in Indonesia.
Subsequently, Fernandez confirmed this trend with second place in the sprint in Australia. A day later, he won his first Grand Prix in the premier class at Phillip Island. It was also Trackhouse’s first victory.
“Davide was a really good, a really important person for me,” says Fernandez. “In the worst moment of my career – that was last year – he always tried to support me.”
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“He always helped me change the situation. For me, he was a very important person in the team. But I think we still have a good motorcycle. The team is still with Aprilia.”
“Of course, it was something I did not expect when I heard the news. But as I already said, that’s no excuse. We can’t think about things we can’t control.”
At first, Fernandez was able to carry the momentum from the good autumn into the 2026 season. At the season opener in Thailand, he finished third in the sprint and the Grand Prix, but then it got more difficult.
Fernandez regularly finished in the top 10, but he was in the shadow of factory riders Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin. Teammate Ai Ogura was also faster.
Fernandez’s future is open. A promotion to the Aprilia factory team is blocked for him, as Francesco Bagnaia will be Bezzecchi’s new teammate in 2027. Another stay in the Aprilia satellite team is not excluded.
When Fernandez was recently asked if he could imagine staying with Trackhouse for two more years, he said: “Yes, why not?” However, with Brivio’s departure, he loses one of his most important advocates in the team.
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