“Too many variables” - Trackhouse boss explains why MotoGP wins are not a KPI

Trackhouse owner Justin Marks has explained why the team’s Key Performance Indicators are not based on winning MotoGP championships and races.

The American team is enjoying its strongest season yet, having won grands prix with both Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez during only its third year in the premier class.

Rather than purely results-based targets, Marks, who also owns a race-winning NASCAR team, said he is focused on the team’s approach.

“Well, one of the things we talk about is being relevant,” he said. “I mean, there's just too many variables out of your control when it comes to winning. So we don't typically put our goals, our KPIs, as championships and wins.

“It's more just an approach. Are we happy with the way we're going to the races? Are we happy with the work that we're doing? Knowing that the results will be a by-product of that.

“You just find yourself in these moments right now. So I would say success is just continuing to learn, and continuing to get more confident about the role that we can play in this sport.

“I would say we're, pun intended, firing on all cylinders right now. So if the season ended today, it's been a huge success.”

"Winning is the extra-fun part"

A similar approach applies to sponsorship.

"The way that we approach it in NASCAR, in MotoGP, just the way we approach motorsport, is not to be a team that a company sponsors, but a growth partner for a company," Marks said.

"And that means creating very customised activation and promotion programmes. Really understanding what they're trying to solve for, for their investment in motorsport. And approaching it that way so that all of the value that they're looking for is created before we even go on the racetrack. 

"And if we go win, it's icing on the cake. It's the extra. But you can't sell sponsorship based on performance on the racetrack. We don't. Because there's gonna be days when I'm not here [celebrating a victory]. There's gonna be days when I'm down there crying!

"And we know that those are coming. It comes for every organisation. So creating the value for sponsors and being a true partner with them, and selling the experience of being at MotoGP, or being at NASCAR, or Formula 1, or whatever it is, that's really what we focus on. 

"And winning, it's like the extra-fun part."
 

Trackhouse faith pays off with Fernandez

While Ogura, who joined Trackhouse as a rookie last season, has grown stronger with experience, Fernandez has taken a more complicated route.

The Spaniard excelled during his sole Moto2 season but finished no higher than 20th in his opening MotoGP campaigns with KTM and Aprilia.

Trackhouse kept faith with Fernandez and his form improved dramatically towards the end of last season, culminating in a maiden grand prix victory in Australia.

However, the Spaniard had to overcome another slump earlier this year before responding with a Sprint victory at Mugello.

Fernandez has now finished on the podium in the last three grands prix, also winning the Assen Sprint before taking victory in last Sunday’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

“I would say one of the things that we have a lot of experience in is working with motorsport athletes,” Marks said of Fernandez.

“I raced professionally for 20 years. I know what these guys go through. I know what it feels like to lose. I know what it feels like to crash. I know what it feels like to not be able to get the results on the track over a period of time.

“And it's all psychology. I think the last couple of years, my communication with Raul has been about being supportive of him. ‘What do you need? What helps you?’

“When he's feeling down, putting my arm around him. ‘Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. We make mistakes. Crashing, performance, we'll get there, whatever’.

“I think him starting to feel like this is a team that cares about me, this is a team that's invested in my future, this is a team that believes I can achieve great things, has allowed him to go, okay, I can be more patient, I can just focus on the work and just try to get a little bit better.

“So, really, it's just approaching it, being sympathetic to the mind of an athlete and curating a relationship with him that plays to his emotions and figuring out what he needs and giving him the things that he needs.”

Fernandez, officially confirmed as a Trackhouse rider for the next two seasons on the eve of the Silverstone event, is sixth in the World Championship, 56 points behind factory Aprilia rider Jorge Martin.

Ogura, moving to the factory Yamaha team for 2027, is third in the standings and 37 points from Martin after his first race mistake of the year at Silverstone. The Japanese is expected to be replaced by Enea Bastianini next season.