TUESDAY AUGUST 19 2025
Balaton Park. Hungary
Balaton Park. Hungary
Circuit Information:
Track length: 2.532 miles / 4.075 kilometers
Right Corners:
Left Corners:
Longest Straight: 0.413 miles / 0.665 kilometers
Constructed: 2023 / Modified: 2025
Time zone: GMT +2 / CET +1 / EST +6 / PCT +9
Notes & Quotes:
Hard on the heels of the Austrian Grand Prix, the US owned and based Trackhouse MotoGP Team has packed 15 tons (13,000 kilograms) of freight and moved its trucks 160 miles (260 kilometers) east to the new Balaton Park circuit for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Located around 50 miles (80 kilometers) south-west of the Hungarian capital – Budapest – the track started build in 2019 and opened in 2023. With some revisions made at the beginning of this year, to cope with the speeds of prototype MotoGP missiles, the pavement weaves a counter-clockwise layout through a series of short straights and sharp changes of direction.
While Hungary boasts a long tradition of motorsports, on both two and four wheels, only two races in the Grand Prix Motorcycle World Championship have been hosted in the country. Both were held at the Hungaroring circuit, the first won by Mick Doohan in 1990 and the second by the American, Eddie Lawson, who triumphed in wet conditions in 1992. After a hiatus of 33 years, MotoGP is back in Hungary at a track that none of the MotoGP Teams have raced previously. An exciting prospect for Trackhouse and its pair of young, 24-year-old, stars - #25 Raul Fernandez and #79 Ai Ogura.
Raul has hit a vein a form that has seen him finish the last six Grand Prix races in the top ten. Last time out, in Austria, his race pace was competitive and he is gaining feel and confidence with his Trackhouse Aprilia RS-GP25. Finding speed early in a GP weekend, particularly to qualify well, which in Hungary with its tight ‘stop-and-go’ layout will be especially important, sets the momentum for a successful race. The coming weekend will place real emphasis on finding balance in the braking areas and good drive off the corners which has been an area of focus for Trackhouse’s factory racing partner. In Austria, the team’s RS-GP25 bikes gained the very latest aero package from Aprilia – making the one major upgrade allowed per season within the World Championship regulations – and had new rear ride height technology added. Both should make a difference at Balaton Park and Raul makes his first visit keen to exploit the potential and score more Championship points.
For the 24-year-old rookie, #79 Ai Ogura, the pace and precision is returning after a tough run of crashes ahead of the summer break and before last weekend’s races in Austria. While Ai struggled to extract single lap pace from his Trackhouse Aprilia around the Red Bull Ring, he raced strongly and closed out the Austrian Grand Prix at front running lap pace. His 14th position does not give a true picture of the potential that Ai has and as experience grows, the team expects to see him challenging in the top ten. While the new, tight, Balaton Park venue will be another learning curve for the young Japanese native, he is showing that he has the commitment and ability to work with his crew and make gains – building speed and understanding through the course of each Grand Prix weekend.
FThe coming Grand Prix of Hungary will present a fascinating challenge for all the MotoGP World Championship teams and the Trackhouse MotoGP Team, in particular, cannot wait to give this latest ribbon of asphalt a try!
RAÚL FERNÁNDEZ
“Balaton Park will be a new track for everybody. We don’t have any data, but I’m still very confident. We ended the last few races inside the top 10 so, basically, it’s the target that, first of all, we need to try our maximum from Friday onwards and if we manage to do that, it will be very nice. I’m looking forward to this new circuit.”
AI OGURA
“It’s going to be a new circuit for everybody and I think there’s a lot of changes in direction. Once you understand the circuit, I think it will be quite OK to manage. So, Friday is going to be a key - really important. We have been struggling in important sessions, nearly since we arrived in Europe, so I’ll try to be good in this moment and after that, everything should be coming easier. I’ll try my best and we’ll see what happens.”
“Let’s see how this new circuit looks like. It’s great because it’s new for everybody in MotoGP, although a few riders had a possibility to test. It’s still a white paper, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the balance will be, how the order and the performance of all the riders will look. We are coming from a good momentum with Raul and also Ai is close to his best form again - we have good potential with both. The important thing now is to do a good job with both during the weekend, trying to put them in a good position, especially working on Qualifying and then we see.”
- DAVIDE BRIVIO, TEAM PRINCIPAL
2025 MotoGP Championship Standings – after Round 12 – Austria:
#25 Raul Fernandez - Championship position: 12th Total Points: 73
#79 Ai Ogura - Championship position: 16th Total Points: 53
Trackhouse MotoGP Team standing - Championship position: 8th Total Points: 126
Track action at the Grand Prix of Hungary gets underway with FP1 – Friday, August 22 at 10.45 am (GMT+2)
