Trackhouse tease rider announcement - but who could it be?

Trackhouse Racing is on the verge of revealing the first of its rider signings for the 2025 MotoGP season, after posting on social media today (Monday): “I think we found our guy.”

Exactly who that guy is, is yet to be revealed.

But all should become clear in the next day or so and the topic of who it might be headlines the latest issue of the Crash.net MotoGP podcast.

“It looks like Trackhouse is going to be the next piece of the rider jigsaw to fall into place,” said MotoGP editor Pete McLaren. “The two factory Aprilia seats are already decided but we don’t know any Trackhouse riders yet.

“It sounds like the team and Aprilia are happy with Raul Fernandez. And he seems happy to stay. So that looks fairly certain, even if nothing is so far signed.

“But there's a bigger question mark over the second seat because although Trackhouse has also said they want to keep Miguel Oliveira, who hit form at the Sachsenring after not being comfortable so far this year, he is also being targeted by other teams.

“And then of course there’s been a lot of speculation about whether Trackhouse will get an American rider in the form of Joe Roberts from Moto2."

Podcast host Jordan Moreland added: “To me, the teaser video didn't really have the feel of a renewal-type announcement. I didn't get that vibe from it. It was almost like Tinder with team owner Justin Marks scrolling through a list of possibilities. Do you think it's going to be either Jack Miller or Joe Roberts?”

“I definitely think it's going to be a new rider,” replied MotoGP/Superbike reporter Rob Jones. “You don't normally make that sort of teaser when you're just re-signing someone.

“Like Pete said, Raul Fernandez seems to be in position for one of those seats. I think the teaser is a hint at Joe Roberts, I think he is ultimately going to win out in terms of getting one of those seats.

“If it is Joe Roberts, I think it's good for the championship. It's good to have an American rider back in the class and also in an American team. And on the results side, I think he does deserve it. He's been great in Moto2 this year.

“If they do go down the Roberts route they’ll need someone alongside him with experience. Raul Fernandez has done a few years in MotoGP now but has a huge amount of potential still.”

McLaren added: “One thing Trackhouse has said, and Aprilia has backed them up, is that they are looking for performance first and are not there just to be a junior team to train up young riders. 

"So that works a bit against Joe Roberts as a rookie, when you have a lot of race-winning guys, like Miller, that don’t have seats at the moment,

“However, Roberts has really stepped it up in Moto2 this year and we’ll find out perhaps this week if he’s done enough to win Trackhouse over on the performance side as well.

“Whoever gets it, it should be a top ride. The Aprilia has won races for the past few seasons and we assume both Trackhouse riders will get RS-GP25s. The European factory teams are full now so it’s seats like Trackhouse that are the most competitive rides still available.”

Moreland asked: “Rob, how important will it be to have someone with Aprilia experience?”

“I think it's going to be vital. Martin is going to Aprilia and, with the performance he’s shown in recent seasons, I find it hard to believe he’s not going to be strong," Jones replied.

“And obviously we're sort of hoping that Marco Bezzecchi can get back to the Bezzecchi of last year. So they are going to be strong but the lack of Aprilia experience might make things harder at the beginning of the season at least.

“Especially when you consider KTM are going to have Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta who both have experience of the bike already. And the same at Ducati with Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.

“So I think it's going to be vitally important that Trackhouse do have someone who's got Aprilia experience and can even help the likes of Martin and Bezzecchi along in that early phase.

“I think there’s a lot of eyes on the Trackhouse rider line-up because it’s not just about what it does for Trackhouse, but also Aprilia.”