Trackhouse MotoGP “not a lot different” to NASCAR outfit’s early days

Trackhouse Aprilia boss Justin Marks reckons his MotoGP team is in a similar position now to his NASCAR Cup Series team in its early days.

Trackhouse’s NASCAR team entered the Cup Series in 2021 and by 2022 it was winning races with Ross Chastain.

2025 and 2026 has seen the team dominate NASCAR’s road course races with former V8 Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen.

In MotoGP, Marks feels the team is following a similar path, having entered in 2024 after taking over the RNF team and going on to become a race winner with Raul Fernandez late last year at Phillip Island.

Fernandez has won again this year, in the Sprints at Mugello and Assen as well as the grand prix at Silverstone, and his team-mate Ai Ogura won the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of June. 

“Well, it’s not a lot different to kind of how our NASCAR team has and was early in the process,” said Marks, speaking on the MotoGP world feed broadcast during Practice at Silverstone.

“The excitement, and the enthusiasm and inspiration, about a new project unlocks potential in people; the challenge is in maintaining that over a long period of time. 

“The Aprilia bikes are working really great right now. We’ve got two riders that are riding as well as they ever have in their careers and we’ve got a whole bunch of people – mechanics and engineers – [who are] fully bought-in to the opportunity.

“When all of that comes together in a way where we can come to the race track and it’s just fun, and enjoy it and smile, and be excited about the opportunity that we have in our lives, that’s where the magic is and it’s all coming together right now.”

Marks insists that there are currently no thoughts about the championship, though, with both Trackhouse riders in contention to differing degrees and the team itself in the running for the Teams’ title, although Ogura’s crash in the Silverstone race cost him key ground in the riders’ battle.

“We’re not thinking really about the championship – there’s so much racing left to go,” the Trackhouse Aprilia owner said.

“This is about execution, it’s about showing up at the race track well-prepared, just executing well on the race track with the preparation. 

“If we just take every race weekend and every day with the perspective of what the objective is at that moment, hopefully it will put us in a position going to Valencia where we can look at the board and say ‘Okay, now we can go and fight for a championship’. 

“But we’re not going to think about that until the Monday before Valencia.”