Trackhouse hopes to ditch its blue livery

Trackhouse has already sported different liveries during its short presence in MotoGP. Arriving a year ago to take over from RNF as Aprilia's satellite team, the American team first displayed the flag of its country, on a predominantly white Aprilia at the start of the season, then gray in the second part. Everything will change this year since the bike unveiled on Tuesday adopts blue and yellow, the “official” colors of Trackhouse, a team also involved in NASCAR.

On the sponsor side, the Italian dairy products specialist Sterilgarda has disappeared and the oil tanker Gulf has made a discreet appearance, without its legendary colors being incorporated into the livery. The latter is likely to change if Trackhouse manages to attract a major partner. In the meantime, the team will use a temporary livery for pre-season testing, in Sepang and then Buriram.

“First you will see a different livery during winter testing”explained Davide Brivio this Wednesday. “The livery revealed yesterday is a bit of the official Trackhouse colors, you saw the bike and the car with a similar livery, so these are our colors. We have prepared a livery for winter testing, then we are in discussions with potential partners for the future.”

“If things go well, we might find some partners, and as a result we would have to change our livery again. Last year we changed our livery mid-season. We don't intend to do it in 2025 but we're trying to be creative and I expect you'll see a few different liveries during the year.”

This quest for a sponsor is not just an aesthetic problem but also a real need for financing the team. Currently, the structure relies on the support of its shareholder, thanks to its activities in NASCAR and in the world of entertainment, but Brivio confirms that the objective is to allow it to live on its own.

“Obviously, the objective is to be independent, for the MotoGP team to be viable. Currently, we are part of a big organization – it's not just MotoGP, we are part of the Trackhouse Entertainment group, so Trackhouse has a NASCAR team and other activities, as a group, currently MotoGP is viable.

“The goal is for the MotoGP project to become independent in the future. For now, let's say we would like to have a sponsor as quickly as possible, but that's okay. We can afford [cette situation]. The goal is for us to be viable in the near future.”

Colors can change “at any time”

Attracting a brand capable of making the necessary investment is not easy and Trackhouse had little time to do so. The team took over from RNF in December 2023 and needed to get its bearings to set up a commercial department capable of attracting sponsors. Brivio also concedes that the latter are not easy to attract.

“It's true, it's not easy. There are some big brands in MotoGP and at Trackhouse we are new to this business. Last year we started and we created a kind of commercial department. Now, the one from NASCAR is also working for MotoGP. We are also working to see if brands present in NASCAR would have an interest in getting involved on an international scale, and if so, MotoGP could become a good platform. time.”

“It was also a year of learning in that regard, on the business side. NASCAR and MotoGP are different worlds so we also had to understand the possibilities in MotoGP. We are a little late: normally, in MotoGP, we conclude the agreements with the sponsors in August or September of the previous year, then we prepare everything. We, in August/September, had only been six months since we started.”

“We have started negotiations, discussions, there are possibilities but until a contract is signed, you never know. It's difficult but I would say that there are discussions underway and we we'll see. Quite simply, we couldn't complete things in September, October or November, so we presented this 'corporate livery' and we are ready to change it at any time during the season.”