TUesday, FEBRUARY 25, 2025
buriram INTERNTIONL CIRCUIT, thailand
BURIRAM INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT
Circuit Information:
Track length: 2.83 miles / 4.55 kilometers
Left Corners: 5
Right Corners: 7
Time zone: GMT +7 / CET +6 / EST +12 / PCT +15
The American MotoGP team travels to Buriram, for the opening Thai Grand Prix, to begin its sophomore campaign in the FIM MotoGP World Championship. After a busy off-season, closed out with a season preview event at home base - the Trackhouse race shop in Concord, North Carolina - where the wraps came off Trackhouse 2025 house livery on one the NASCAR Team’s Chevrolet Cup cars and one the MotoGP team’s Aprilia GP-RS MotoGP bikes. The event also celebrated the international make-up of the Trackhouse athlete roster ahead of the 2025 season: American, Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Trackhouse Cup car, Daniel Suárez, driver of the #99 Trackhouse Chevrolet from Mexico, #88 rookie Cup driver, New Zealander, Shane Van Gisbergen and on the MotoGP roster, #25 Raul Fernandez, from Madrid, Spain and rookie Moto2 World Champion, Ai Ogura, from Saitama, Japan. Launch day pitched all the drivers and riders into a full schedule of video and photography in preparation for the start of the season and the Trackhouse World Tour – a feature that has launched on social media and will run through the 2025 NASCAR Cup and MotoGP World Championship campaigns.
For the Trackhouse MotoGP Team, testing followed immediately after the trip to the USA. Kicking off in Malaysia, Ai Ogura completed the three-day Shakedown Test without incident, gaining seat time on the brand new Trackhouse Aprilia GP-RS25, followed by a further three days at Sepang for the first full test of 2025. Raul Fernandez only got a morning on track before a heavy crash put him out of the test and onto an airplane home to Spain for surgery on a fractured left hand and little toe, on his left foot. Ai completed a very solid Sepang test before both riders joined forces for the second pre-season test at Buriram. A further two days on track gave the team the opportunity to run race simulations and make further refinements to its pair of Aprilia GP-RS 2025 spec bikes ahead of return to the Thai track for the opening race weekend.
For 2025, the Trackhouse MotoGP Team welcomes new Partners; Gulf Oil International, comes bringing one of the most iconic logos in the history of motorsports to MotoGP. With a peerless heritage in Formula 1 and sportscar racing, Gulf and Trackhouse are aiming to excite a new audience of fans with action and insights from the pinnacle of motorcycle racing. Kappa, the Italian clothing brand, famous for its Omini logo which graces athletes and teams across multiple elite sports, joins Trackhouse as the official clothing partner for the MotoGP team.
Track action at the Grand Prix of Thailand gets underway with FP1 – Friday, February 28 – at 10am (GMT+7).
AI OGURAThe reigning Moto2 World Champion starts his MotoGP career at the track where he sealed his 2024 World title. After testing strongly and consistently pre-season, impressing his crew with his work rate, learning curve and outright performance, the team are confident in his preparation and approach towards racing. As one of three rookies on the 2025 MotoGP grid, Ai is an exciting prospect for the future and the Trackhouse team are keen to help him develop and find his pace in the demanding schedule that the premier class demands – Friday’s practice sessions, which are key to a strong weekend, Saturday’s hectic Qualifying and Sprint format and then the full race distance Grand Prix on Sunday, all while contending with the greater demands that come with being a star at the very pinnacle of the sport. To guide his path, he will have Giovanni Mattarollo as his Crew Chief and a hugely experienced team on the #79 Trackhouse Aprilia GP-RS25.
“I’m very happy and excited to start the new season with a new team and a new bike in a new category. In the winter tests, I had some great days with the team. Every day I felt we are improving, so the motivation is really high right now. What we need is a race. After a few races, I think I will have learnt even more and so I’m waiting to make this race weekend experience and I just can’t wait to work again with my team. Let’s start the season! It will be an exciting year on a MotoGP bike. I really want to know what we can do on the bike this year and I definitely can’t wait to start.”
RAÚL FERNÁNDEZRaul arrives in Buriram for Round 1 hungry to get a good start in the 2025 Championship. After his violent crash in Malaysia, on Day 1 of the test, he was forced to miss the rest of the track time in Sepang and then suffered from discomfort in both his left hand and left foot, while in the early stages of recovery from his injuries, during the two-day test in Buriram. As the most experienced Aprilia rider on the grid, Raul will play an important role in early season development of the GP-RS25 Aprilia bike, for Trackhouse and the Noale factory squad. On Raul’s side of the Trackhouse pit garage, the #25 crew is led, once again, by Noè Herrera.
“I’m so happy to be coming back to racing! For sure, this is just the first round and we need to stay calm to see how we can start the season. Of course, I would like to do my best, it is important for me and the team to get off to a strong start, but I don’t want to think too much about the result. I will just try to give my maximum, have fun on the bike and I’m sure the rest will come. I’m ready for the weekend and feel fit again after the injury I sustained in Malaysia.”
“We are very excited to start this new season. It will be interesting to see the Aprilia progress, to hopefully see Raul completely fit and it will also be very good to see Ai facing his first MotoGP race after the job we have done in the winter. We have many things going on, which we like to find out. Also, we have some special news. There are interesting things from our side, the bike, Raul and Ai with his first race, so we can’t wait to be in Thailand and get started. I think we did a good job in the winter, testing a few things, setting up the new bike and of course, we have room for improvement in each section, but we are happy to start and see where we are.”
- DAVIDE BRIVIO, TEAM PRINCIPAL
