Trackhouse Racing – Fired up for Silverstone
Preview: 2024 Monster Energy BRITISH GRAND PRIX – Round 10 of the MotoGP World Championship
August 1 – August 4: Silverstone Circuit, United Kingdom: Track length: 3.67 miles / 5.9 kilometers
After a three-week gap between the last race at Sachsenring in Germany and this weekend’s British Grand Prix, Trackhouse Racing has been busy and arrives at the ultra-fast sweeps of Silverstone with a new aerodynamic upgrade package for its Aprilia RS-GP24 bikes. From the start of track action on Friday, the new specification will used by both Trackhouse team riders, #88 Miguel Oliveira and by #25 Raul Fernandez – bringing him up to the same equipment level as his teammate and Aprilia Racing riders, Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales. For Raul, this step represents an opportunity not only for increased performance but, crucially, gives the benefit of sharing the same data sets, providing the engineers more information and seeing directly comparative performance overlays with Miguel and the Aprilia Racing Team. Raul now has a new bike to look forward to at Silverstone and two more years with Trackhouse Racing, having signed a new agreement with the American organization immediately after the German Grand Prix.
The new aero package on the #88 and #25 RS-GP24’s will get an immediate workout at Silverstone. One of the fastest tracks of the season, the flowing nature of the former airforce base puts an emphasis on efficient aerodynamics and corner stability. With an average lap speed over 110 miles per hour (177 kilometers per hour) Silverstone is also a power circuit with its corners divided between four significant length straight-aways. Clockwise in layout, the lap starts with a challenging right hander leading into a left sweeper before braking to negotiate a tight right-left. The key to a lap time is strong corner exit and getting out onto the National straight smoothly is vital ahead of the heavy braking zone and slow series of corners at the Brooklands and Luffield complex. The old start-finish straight sets up the next part of the lap with the ultra-fast Copse right-hander and then the adrenalin pumping, decreasing radius left, right, left sweeps before the riders head out onto the expansive Hangar Straight. Maximum speed into the braking area for the long, over-crest Stowe right is around 211 miles per hour (340 kilometers per hour) and the lap finishes with a heavy braking zone and double right corners leading back onto the start-finish straight. At over 3.6 miles (5.9 kilometers) the riders face 20 laps of Silverstone for Sunday’s main British Grand Prix and half that distance for the Sprint race on Saturday.
#88 Miguel Oliveira comes to Silverstone, from the break since Germany, with good reason to be confident. After a very strong weekend at the Sachsenring, achieving the front row – 2nd place – in Qualifying, Miguel finished 2nd in the Sprint and 6th in the main German Grand Prix, showing real speed and consistency through the weekend. A 4th place finish in the Grand Prix at Silverstone last year and the promise that comes with the aerodynamic upgrade package on his Trackhouse Aprilia RS-GP24 points to the potential for a competitive weekend in England.
Raul Fernandez also returns to action off a positive practice and qualifying in Germany on his #25 RS-GP23. Finishing Q2 just one spot behind Miguel, in 3rd position and matching his best front row starting spot in Catalunya, Raul did not get the result he was looking for in the Sprint, coming home 14th with grip issues, while Sunday’s 10th place finish in the Grand Prix hinted at the pace he had shown earlier in the weekend. Raul’s move to the Aprilia RS-GP24 bike and starting immediately from the moment the new aero package arrives will give the young man from Madrid every reason to want improvements in performance around the open expanses of Silverstone.
At Silverstone this weekend, MotoGP celebrates 75 years of the Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship which kicked off at the Isle of Man TT in 1949. It is the oldest motorsport world championship and its place in history will be celebrated on Sunday, for the British Grand Prix, with every team in the MotoGP class running a historically themed livery design on their bikes. Trackhouse have something particularly special planned – watch out for the unveiling on Thursday, August 1st.
Track action for Trackhouse Racing, at Silverstone, starts with morning Free Practice 1 on Friday, August 2nd. Keep an eye on the local starting time of the British Grand Prix:
Saturday, August 3rd SPRINT RACE – 10 Laps
3pm (Local time BST) 4pm (CEST) 10am (US Eastern Time) 7am (US Pacific Time)
Sunday, August 4th GRAND PRIX – 20 Laps
1pm (Local time BST) 2pm (CEST) 8am (US Eastern Time) 5am (US Pacific Time)
MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
“Silverstone was a good experience for me last year with a very strong result and close to the podium. We come back here after a decent summer break where there was time to rest and to get more in shape for the next part of the season. Therefore, I’m looking forward to reuniting with the team, getting back on the Aprilia with its upgrades and have some fun in Great Britain.”
Championship standing: 13th – 51 points
RAUL FERNANDEZ
“I’m really looking forward to getting to Silverstone and happy to arrive there with a clear idea about my future. Staying with the team for the next two years was really important to know in order to be super relaxed and focused for this second part of the year. The weekend won’t be easy, we have a lot of work to do – first of all, to find the feeling on the bike again after the last three weeks without riding. Secondly, we will work with a new bike and we don’t have a lot of practice time so we need to understand everything quickly to be ready for the races and then try to enjoy Silverstone. It is usually a good track for our bike and I’m happy to come back and get there having security in my mind.”
Championship standing: 14th – 46 points
WILCO ZEELENBERG – TEAM MANAGER
“After nine races and three weekends away we are obviously looking forward to restarting. Silverstone has been good to us last season and with Miguel especially as he had a great race over here. Saying that, for this year, Raul will have his 2024 bike for Silverstone ready, so we are looking forward to seeing how capable he will be adjusting to the new machine. Apart from this, we have a 75th anniversary livery for Sunday, which I think will be a great surprise and it will be a quite spectacular event, not only because we should be able to perform well in Silverstone but also because there is a lot going on besides. We are really looking forward to starting again!”
Trackhouse Racing – Team Championship standing: 8th – 97 points
www.trackhouse.com – #Welcometothehouse
