SUNday july 20, 2025
Automotodrom Brno. Czech Republic
Automotodrom Brno. Czech Republic: Track length: 3.357 miles / 5.403 kilometers
Warm Up: 9.40am – 9.50am – Dry Track
Air Temperature: 73.4°F / 23°C
Track Temperature: 91.4°F / 33°C
#79 Ai Ogura
P6 – Best Lap: 1’53.902 – Lap 4 of 6
Top speed: 200.27 mph / 322.3 km/h
#25 Raul Fernandez
P11 – Best Lap: 1’54.067 – Lap 3 of 5
Top speed: 196.17 mph / 315.7 km/h
RACE: 2pm – Dry track:
21 Laps – 70.5 miles / 113.46 kilometers
Air Temperature: 80.6°F / 27°C
Track Temperature: 104°F / 40°C
#25 Raul Fernandez – P5 (Race Points: 11 Championship Standing: 13 Total Points: 66)
Race Time: 40’14.673 Best Lap: 1’54.405 – Lap 15 of 21
Average speed: 169.1 mph / 105.07 Km/h Top speed: 197.35 mph / 317.6 km/h
#79 Ai Ogura – P14 (Race Points: 2 Championship Standing: 16 Total Points: 51)
Race Time: 40’26.532 Best Lap: 1’54.577 – Lap 11 of 21
Average speed: 104.58 mph / 168.3 Km/h Top speed: 199.09 mph / 320.4 km/h
Race Weekend Summary:
#25 Raul Fernandez takes a strong 5th and #79 Ai Ogura 14th to make it a double points haul for the Trackhouse MotoGP Team. A confidence builder going into the summer recess.
- RRound 12 – the Czech Republic Grand Prix pitches the MotoGP World Championship into the second half of the 2025 season and with it, a new track surface and wildly varying weather conditions – challenging for both Trackouse MotoGP riders, #25 Raul Fernandez and #79 Ai Ogura, neither of whom had experience of the Czech track in the premier class and limited prior experience as the venue had not been visited by the Championship since 2020. This race weekend was also a debut in the Czech Republic for the American team - making its first visit to Brno.
- After a tough weekend in Germany, for both riders, this weekend was an opportunity to build some confidence ahead of the Championship summer break, but Friday’s heavy rain did not make for an easy start. Raul could not quite get up to the pace required to leap from Practice straight into Saturday’s 2nd Qualifying session – narrowly missing out in 11th spot. Ai’s suffered an unwelcome introduction to the track with a brutal high-side get-off in the morning 1st Free Practice and spent the rest of the day regaining confidence on his Trackhouse Aprilia RS-GP25.
- Saturday brought dry track conditions which favored both riders and Raul duly delivered in the morning 1st Qualifying session with a lap good enough to carry him into the 2nd Qualifying session which decides the front of the grid. Ai could not follow suit but was steadily building confidence and pace ahead of the Sprint.
- In Q2, Raul landed 6th for a second row starting spot ahead of the afternoon Sprint and Sunday’s main Grand Prix.
- Warm and sunny track conditions meant the Sprint race was run with the high grip and ultra-smooth Brno pavement offering perfect conditions for the 10-lap shootout. Ai made rapid progress on Lap 1, going from P21 to P16 but then ran the remaining 9 laps in a gap and was unable to gain further places before the checkers came out. Raul battled at the front through the race and was competitive, taking a strong, confidence building, 6thposition to boost his Championship points haul and his momentum ahead of the main race on Sunday.
- Over 95,000 fans lined the 3.36 mile (5.4 kilometer) track for Sunday afternoon’s main race.
- Raul found good race pace to score a valuable 5th position – in touch with the leaders for much of the first half of the 21 laps and then running unchallenged to the checkers.
- Ai built a solid race from the back end of the grid, steadily making his way forward to 14th by Lap 12. He closed up to the group ahead and despite pressuring for 13th was unable to make more places – crossing the stripe in the points after another experience building weekend.
- Trackhouse MotoGP Team’s factory racing partner, Aprilia, made another Grand Prix podium with a strong race from Marco Bezzecchi for 2nd and returning, reigning World Champion, Jorge Martin, in 7th place.
- MotoGP now takes a three-week break and the Trackhouse Team, now in 8th position in the World Championship Team standings, is looking forward to carrying the recent progress onto the Red Bull Ring, for the Austrian Grand Prix, in the Styrian mountains. See you there!
RAUL FERNANDEZ
- Grid position: P6 – Started on Front: medium – slick tire & Rear: medium – slick tire
- Raul did not get the start that he was looking for – dropping to 9th but then gaining back a place mid-lap for 8th.
- Back up to 6th on Lap 2 as two bikes went down ahead and after that, only briefly lost a place to 7th on Lap 3 before immediately taking back the spot.
- Ran in 6th until Lap 7 when he made a move for 5th place. He made it stick, opened a gap and for the rest of the race, never looked like being challenged.
- The finish netted 11 confidence boosting World Championship points and a welcome result ahead of the holidays.
“I’m very happy. The beginning of the season wasn’t easy for me but we managed to improve everything step by step. Of course, we made a really good job today and during the weekend - this was my best weekend in MotoGP ever. I think there were two important keys; the first one was the Qualifying - when I see we are quite far back, it’s difficult at the beginning of the race. Today for me, it was quite easy because I didn’t have a lot of problems to overtake other riders and I also didn’t have a lot of riders in front. The other key was on Thursday when I had a really positive meeting with Davide Brivio. He helped and motivated me a lot - I was super relaxed during the weekend, I enjoyed riding my bike and all of this helped me a lot.”
AI OGURA
- Grid position: P20 – Started on Front: medium – slick tire & Rear: medium – slick tire
- Starting from the back of the grid, Ai made his usual strong start but, ultimately, could not make it last and crossed the stripe for the first time back in 20th position.
- Lap 2 saw him 17th and then his pace yielded 16th by Lap 6.
- Going well mid-race, he grabbed 15th on Lap 9 and just a couple of circuits later, was up to 14th.
- With half distance reached, he steadily closed to the back wheel of the group running ahead but was unable to challenge for 13th and crossed the start-finish to score 2 World Championship points.
- Austria comes next – but that is after a 3-week break in the Championship and a chance to mentally and physically re-set.
“It was another tough weekend. We made a step this morning in Warm Up but, during the race, I was stuck behind one rider for quite a long time. When I was alone, the pace was quite OK but, anyway, it was not fast enough. I could gain a few positions but far from where we want to be. It’s not enough and I’m not really happy about the weekend. But some more points before the summer break are good and now we can rest a bit and then into the second part.”
“We are happy about today with this top 5 and being the best independent team. I think Raul did a great race, he gave everything and the result was well deserved. We are happy, it’s good to go into the summer break with such a good performance. It was a little bit more difficult for Ai. We concluded the first part of the season with ups and downs. Unfortunately, we had a moment where he was injured, so this summer break will be very helpful, I think, to relax, reset a bit and come back stronger in the second part of the season. We conclude this first part here in Brno and it’s nice to have a little bit of break with good results - thanks to Raul. Also, congratulations to everyone in Aprilia with Marco (Bezzecchi) and Jorge (Martin) as well. We look forward to the second half of the season and we will try to go again and even better.”
- DAVIDE BRIVIO, TEAM PRINCIPAL
Trackhouse MotoGP Team Championship Standing: 8th Total Points: 117
Next Race: Grand Prix of Austria. August 15 - 17 – Red Bull Ring, Austria
