Trackhouse Racing has been linked with a move to MotoGP as the replacement for the banished RNF Aprilia team.
Nevertheless, it is planning on there being a satellite Aprilia squad on the grid, with Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira subsequently named on the provisional 2024 entry list for the ‘Aprilia Racing Independent Team’.
According to multiple reports from Europe, including from Italy’s Corse di Moto, that new satellite team is most likely to be Trackhouse, which fields two full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series and has also signed Shane van Gisbergen to a ‘developmental programme’ in 2024.
The squad was founded by Justin Marks and counts rapper Armando Christian ‘Pitbull’ Perez as a shareholder.
It debuted in NASCAR in 2021 and has won six races to date, with Ross Chastain finishing second in last year’s Cup Series in its #1 Camaro.
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Trackhouse runs two cars on a full-time basis, the other being the #99 car of Daniel Suarez, and has also fielded the ‘Project91’ entry on a sporadic basis to provide opportunities for big-name foreign drivers.
That initiative of growing the appeal of NASCAR might provide a clue as to why Dorna Sports, which owns MotoGP, is interested in the Marks-led operation.
So far, Project91 has been rolled out for 2007 world drivers’ champion Kimi Raikkonen and van Gisbergen, the latter of whom sensationally won on debut on the Chicago Street Circuit and is now aiming to be a full-time Cup Series driver in 2025.
A popular theory is that Dorna wants to use Trackhouse to grow MotoGP in North America, where its popularity is lacking.
Meanwhile, despite having no RNF team to ride for, Fernandez is set to be in action at Valencia for post-season testing.
Aprilia will run its test team for the Spaniard, while Oliveira was always set to miss out on the day due to injury.
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