FLYING THE FLAG!
Preview: 2024 RED BULL GRAND PRIX OF THE AMERICAS – Round 3 of the MotoGP World Championship
April 11 – 14: Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas. USA: Track length: 3.42 miles / 5.51 kilometers
Trackhouse Racing hits home soil for Round 3 of the MotoGP World Championship, at the Circuit of the Americas, close to the City of Austin, Texas. As America’s only team in the premier class of motorcycle racing, flying the flag in front of the team’s own crowd makes this a particularly special weekend.
Circuit of the Americas has been home to the US round of the MotoGP World Championship since 2013 and is also host to Formula 1 and NASCAR – just a couple of weeks ago, Trackhouse MotoGP sister team raced in the NASCAR Cup Series at the Austin track and during this year’s MotoGP race weekend will also be racing a couple hours up highway 35, at Texas Motor Speedway, making it a Lone Star State double header for owner Justin Marks.
Circuit of the Americas track layout makes the most of a dramatic climb to turn one before plunging downhill through a series of sweeping corners and down to the challenging hairpin at the bottom of the course. The back stretch brings the bikes back towards the pit complex for a combination of corners that demand heavy braking through tightening corners before arriving back at the main pit straight. Overall, the elevation changes amount to over 130 ft (41 m) and like his home circuit in Portugal, the changing gradients suited Trackhouse’s #88 Miguel Oliveira who came home 5th in last year’s Grand Prix. For Raul Fernandez, the focus is very much on bringing his #25 Aprilia RS-GP22 home for the chequers and some confidence boosting points. He has form at the track having taken victory in the intermediate Moto2 class in 2021 and Raul has shown he has the speed to run at the front in what, come Sunday will be his 100th start in World Championship Grand Prix racing.
The Trackhouse duo, who both left the last race in Portugal frustrated with their respective races, are pumped for the team’s home debut and gunning for an opportunity to be wearing a Stetson come Sunday.
The action for Trackhouse Racing gets going with the morning Free Practice 1 session on Friday, April 12th.
Saturday, April 13: SPRINT RACE – 10 Laps
3pm (Local time CDT) 4pm (US Eastern Time) 1pm (US Pacific Time) 9pm (BST) 10pm (CEST)
Sunday, April 14: GRAND PRIX – 20 Laps
2pm (Local time CDT) 3pm (US Eastern Time) 12noon (US Pacific Time) 8pm (BST 9pm (CEST)
MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
“I’m looking forward to the team’s home Grand Prix in Austin. Last year I was relatively competitive in the top 10 places and with the progress we have made with the bike in Portimão, I’m hoping that making another step in the right direction, we can challenge for more. It’s always a nice Grand Prix here and this year it’s going to be even more special carrying the American flag with us!”
RAUL FERNANDEZ
“I’m really happy to come back to this track. After the beginning of the year, which was definitely not what we were hoping for and expecting, I can’t wait to arrive at Circuit of the Americas to see how competitive we are. I’ll try to enjoy myself on the bike again, which is our target and for our Trackhouse Team, this weekend is very special, so we really aim to enjoy and try to do our maximum in the United States.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – TEAM PRINCIPAL
“We are very excited about our first race in the USA, as Trackhouse, America’s MotoGP team. Looking forward to this weekend in Austin, Miguel is getting more used to the 2024 bike and it is important that we are continuing to adapt and for us to find a good base setting for him. He has not had the results that we know he can achieve – the results that are matching our potential. Raul, after two races with results that we were really not expecting, is getting more and more comfortable so we will be looking to try and capitalize on what we have built so far, in the first two races. We cannot forget that he missed most of the winter testing and there is a lot to come from him. Both of them and all the team are looking forward to the weekend here, in front of our home fans!”
JUSTIN MARKS – TEAM OWNER
“This is the event I’ve been looking so forward to since we announced we were entering the MotoGP World Championship. Trackhouse is an American company but we’re a global brand and welcoming the MotoGP team to our home is something that is very special to the company. It has already been an amazing week with the team at our NASCAR headquarters in North Carolina but now it’s time to focus on the race at COTA. Raul and Miguel have shown some very promising speed this year and I think we have a big opportunity this weekend to fight for a good result. We’re making good progress with the bikes and the team. It would be very special to have a successful weekend and I know we have the tools to do so at the company’s home race.”
