SUNday SEPTEMBER 7, 2025
Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya. Spain
Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya. Spain: Track length: 2.894 miles / 4.657 kilometers
Warm Up: 9.40am – 9.50am – Dry Track
Air Temperature: 73.4°F / 23°C
Track Temperature: 80.6°F / 27°C
#25 Raul Fernandez
P10 – Best Lap: 1’39.572 – Lap 5 of 6
Top speed: 216.42 mph / 348.3 km/h
#79 Ai Ogura
P13 – Best Lap: 1’39.645 – Lap 4 of 6
Top speed: 217.85 mph / 350.6 km/h
RACE: 2pm – Dry track: 24 Laps – 69.45 miles / 111.77 kilometers
Air Temperature: 82.4°F / 28°C
Track Temperature: 105.8°F / 41°C
#79 Ai Ogura – P6 (Race Points: 10 Championship Standing: 16 Total Points: 69)
Race Time: 40’29.148 Best Lap: 1’40.396 – Lap 2 of 24
Average speed: 102.9 mph / 165.6 Km/h Top speed: 215.74 mph / 347.2 km/h
#25 Raul Fernandez – P11 (Race Points: 5 Championship Standing: 14 Total Points: 78)
Race Time: 40’33.582 Best Lap: 1’40.382 – Lap 6 of 24
Average speed: 102.71 mph / 165.3 Km/h Top speed: 217.85 mph / 350.6 km/h
Race Weekend Summary:
Catalunya Grand Prix gives the Trackhouse MotoGP Team a double dose of points
- Hola Spain – for the third time, so far, in the 2025 MotoGP World Championship, as the series arrives at the familiar surroundings of the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit.
- After the stop-and-go layout of the new Balaton Park track in Hungary, this round offers a totally different challenge for the USA’s only premier class MotoGP team. The long start-finish straight-away, long sweepers and tight corners around the 2.9-mile (4.7 kilometers) Barcelona circuit is well known territory and has, in recent years, been a friendly racetrack for the Aprilia RS-GP bikes.
- In 2024, #25 Raul Fernandez qualified 3rd on the grid, led the Sprint and scored a 6th place finish in the Grand Prix.
- Friday’s practice sessions this year did not go to plan for Raul who was unable to find the pace in the afternoon session to leap straight into Saturday’s Qualifying 2 session.
- Teammate, #79 Ai Ogura did nail a good set-up on Friday and ended Practice in 10th spot and a ticket to ride in Q2.
- Saturday’s qualifying saw Raul still searching for pace and unable to progress out of Qualifying 1 – booking P15 on the grid for the afternoon, half-distance, Sprint and the main, full distance, Grand Prix on Sunday.
- Ai Ogura’s qualifying – Q2 – session pace for the top twelve spots on the grid was strong and he secured a P8 starting position.
- At the start of the Sprint, both Trackhouse riders endured a rough first lap, dropping places, but both recovered with good race pace as the 12-lap encounter unfolded. Ai came back through the midfield – having been in 14th at half-distance – to take 9th place and a World Championship point.
- Raul also had his work cut out but raced back from 17th to an 11th position finish. No Championship points but pace and tire management information in the bank for Sunday’s 24 lap Grand Prix.
- Sunday’s Grand Prix was run in front of over 83,000 fans and for the Trackhouse MotoGP Team did not disappoint. The early morning Warm Up session was uneventful, working on long distance set-up for the 24-lap afternoon race – tire performance being the key variable to understand on Barcelona’s low-grip pavement.
- At lights out, for the start of the Grand Prix, Ai got away well, holding station in 8th while Raul fell back but re-gained his position as the field came over the stripe for the first time.
- Managing tire wear, Ai’s patience came good as he climbed to a 6th place finish while Raul, having held 9th through much of the mid-race laps came home in 11th position.
- A confidence inspiring, points scoring, result for both Trackhouse pilots and for their respective crews ahead of the San Marino Grand Prix, just seven days away.
AI OGURA
- Grid position: P8 – Started on Front: medium – slick tire & Rear: medium – slick tire
- Holding station through Lap 1, Ai followed the front runners for 7 laps before briefly dropping to 9th position.
- On Lap 11 he re-gained 8th and closed on the group running ahead over the next 12 laps and then took two places on Lap 23 to climb to 6th.
- Continued to show front running pace over the final two laps to cross the stripe in 6th place.
- First Aprilia home, 10 World Championship points and a big confidence boost ahead of next week’s San Marino Grand Prix.
“I’m super happy about the race. Before the start I knew that we all have to manage the tires, but I think we did it well. We were quite strong up until the end of the race - I think it was a nice race. In the first few laps I used the front tire a lot more to protect my position and after that I was just saving the rear tire. But it was really difficult to decide when to attack at the end of the race - I thought I could have charged a bit earlier, but I couldn’t really feel what is going to happen with the rear tire. It wasn’t easy, but I was strong in the end and that was super important. We really needed one good race like this and so, I’m happy about the day.”
RAUL FERNANDEZ
- Grid position: P15 – Started on Front: medium – slick tire & Rear: medium – slick tire
- After the lights went out, Lap 1 proved a battle for Raul – down to 19th in the early stages before recovering to 16th mid-lap and finally back to 15th place as he came over the start-finish line for the first time.
- Another two spots gained on Lap 2 gave him 13th and by Lap 3 he was up to 12th.
- His trajectory continued on Lap 5, reaching 11th and the top 10 was achieved two laps later.
- By half-distance, Raul had improved another place to 9th, running hard on the tail of his teammate until lap 21 when he dropped two places in quick succession but held on as the final laps ticked down to the checkers.
- 11th place earned 5 World Championship points and lots of performance information banked ahead of the trip to the Adriatic coast and Misano World Circuit – up next in one week.
“I’m pretty frustrated. We had an issue with the brake today - on each lap I had to play with the position of the brake lever and I couldn’t manage the race. I started, more or less, good and closed the gap to Fabio (Quartararo), Pecco, Marini and Ai and when I was very close to them, I started to have some problems with the brake. I was wide and I started to destroy the front tire and to save it here, is very important. It was very difficult to do this race well and I hope we find something to solve this in Misano.”
“Of course, a very good race for Ai. I think this race was very difficult in terms of tire management - you have to be very careful and I think he managed it like an expert rider despite the fact that he’s a rookie. Congratulations to him for the big job! He was able to save the tire when it was the time to save and then by the end, he made a few overtakes and gave his all. P6 is very good and we are so happy to see Ai back in the top positions. Hopefully this is a beginning of a good end of the season. Also, Raul was going well. He was managing very well the tire, he was doing everything, but then he had some issues and he had to slow down. But his pace was to stay in the top 10, where he was for most of the race. We go away with a good result and now we’re looking forward thinking about Misano already.”
- DAVIDE BRIVIO, TEAM PRINCIPAL
Trackhouse MotoGP Team Championship Standing: 8th Total Points: 147
Next Race: Grand Prix of San Marino. September 12 - 14 – Misano World Circuit, Italy
