Trackhouse Racing Team is one of the hottest outfits in the NASCAR Cup Series, and owner Justin Marks has now set his sights on two-wheel racing as the team will open a MotoGP division starting 2024.
Marks acquired the remnants of RNF Racing, a Malaysian team that raced the last two MotoGP seasons before being kicked off the grid by series organiser Dorna Sports and the FIM for multiple contractual breaches. RNF’s assets, including riders Raúl Fernández and Miguel Oliveira along with their partnership with Aprilia, have been inherited by Trackhouse.
As such, the team’s maiden season will see a pair of Aprilia RS-GP bikes, the #25 of Fernández and #88 for Oliveira. Fernández is set for his third MotoGP season after finishing twenty-second in the 2023 standings while Oliveira is a five-time race winner in the top division.
“Joining the MotoGP World Championship is a very exciting moment for our young company,” said Marks. “Trackhouse has worked from day one to recognize unique and compelling motorsport opportunities and being able to expand to a global series like MotoGP is a massive step in scaling the company. We believe deeply in the mission of Dorna and are committed to bringing something new and exciting to the championship while working hard to help grow and amplify this amazing sport to millions of new fans in North America and beyond.”
While his career has exclusively been in four-wheeled motorsport, Marks is no stranger to motorcycle having, having grown up watching MotoGP at Laguna Seca. Among his idols were the late American rider Nicky Hayden, whose bike the team paid tribute to with their livery reveal on Tuesday.
Trackhouse will be the first American team to race in MotoGP since Kenny Roberts’ Team Roberts in 2007.
The addition of a motorcycle stable continues Marks’ rapid ascension in motorsport as a whole. He founded Trackhouse in 2021, and the team has since expanded to two full-time Cup cars with six combined wins, a Championship Round appearance courtesy of Ross Chastain in 2022, and even a part-time car for international racing stars Kimi Räikkönen and Shane van Gisbergen.
