Former MotoGP team boss Wilco Zeelenberg undergoes open-heart surgery

Former MotoGP team boss Wilco Zeelenberg has revealed that he underwent open-heart surgery at the end of June.

Zeelenberg was a one-time 250cc grand prix winner during a full-time world championship career that spanned six seasons from the late 1980s through the end of the 1990s, by when he'd moved to World Supersport.

The Dutchman remained around racing after his retirement, perhaps most notably when working as team manager on Jorge Lorenzo’s side of the factory Yamaha garage.

After Lorenzo left for Ducati and Yamaha brought in the Petronas SRT team as its satellite squad in 2019, Zeelenberg moved to the Malaysian-owned team as team manager. He remained there through its transition to RNF, to Aprilia, and then to the ownership of Justin Marks’ Trackhouse Racing outfit.

However, when Trackhouse brought in Davide Brivio as team principal at the beginning of the 2024 MotoGP season, the team opted to part ways with Zeelenberg. 

Since then, Zeelenberg has worked on the broadcasts for the Dutch Ziggo Sport broadcaster as an analyst, but he was forced to miss the Dutch and German grands prix, which he has now revealed via social media was due to an open-heart bypass surgery.

“As some of you noticed, I wasn’t present during last month’s Dutch GP,” wrote Zeelenberg on Instagram.

“There was a reason for that.

“What was supposed to be a routine health check turned into something more serious. 

“The day after what was meant to be a scheduled angioplasty (stent) procedure, I unexpectedly had to undergo open-heart bypass surgery. The surgeons performed three bypasses around my heart.

“Now, four weeks later, I’m already feeling better, and my recovery is progressing well. I’m grateful for the care I received and for all the support and well wishes from family, friends, and everyone who reached out.

“You’ll be seeing me back soon as a MotoGP analyst on Ziggo Sport. And don’t worry, Meet The Speed 2026 is absolutely not in danger. The 25th anniversary edition is definitely going ahead, and I can’t wait to be part of it.

“Thank you all for your support. See you soon!”