Zero-podium MotoGP rider told he ‘has to deliver’ on unfulfilled potential by team boss

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MotoGP can see riders crack under the pressure or turn into diamonds and one gem still to show their true potential has now been urged to ‘deliver’ by their team chief.

The premier class may be welcoming three rookies onto the grid in 2025 as Ai Ogura, Fermin Aldeguer and Somkiat Chantra step up from Moto2. But plenty of experienced riders occupy the other 19 bikes and will look to put the debutants in their places once racing is underway.

Even a few of the riders with several seasons in MotoGP under their belt also have points to prove this year. That also includes some storylines beyond how Jorge Martin copes at Aprilia and how Francesco Bagnaia will adapt with Marc Marquez at Ducati in a blockbuster line-up.

Davide Brivio warns Raul Fernandez he ‘has to deliver’ at Trackhouse Racing

Another storyline to follow in the 2025 MotoGP season will be how Raul Fernandez copes as Trackhouse Racing’s lead rider alongside rookie Ogura. Team principal Davide Brivio has lit a fire under Fernandez, as well, by warning the 24-year-old he ‘has to deliver’ on his potential.

Brivio backed Fernandez to lead Trackhouse by giving the Spaniard a new, two-year contract last July tying him to the American crew through the 2026 season. Yet Brivio believes he still has a lot more to produce entering Fernandez’s fourth season on the MotoGP grid this term.

READ MORE: Every MotoGP team’s confirmed 2025 rider line-up and contract details

Trackhouse also let Miguel Oliveira leave at the end of the 2024 season to make a space for Ogura, who signed a two-year contract for Trackhouse in August before winning the Moto2 title. Now, Brivio expects Fernandez to step up and show what he really can give Trackhouse.

“Raul is still young and we think has a lot of talent, which he hasn’t expressed yet,” outlined Brivio told Crash. “So, he has the potential, he’s still young [and] he’s going into his fourth year in MotoGP.

“So, we thought, ‘Ok, we give him the responsibility of the team and now, he has to deliver’. We will see if he delivers.”

Raul Fernandez produced his career-best MotoGP season in 2024

Brivio took charge of Trackhouse last February as the American squad inherited the satellite Aprilia bikes that RNF vacated. Trackhouse also inherited the rider line-up of Fernandez and Oliveira, who scored 66 and 75 points respectively to secure 15th and 16th in the standings.

Only the factory Honda crew and their satellite outfit LCR scored fewer points as a team last year than Trackhouse managed. Fernandez also lost to Oliveira in their head-to-head battles over Grand Prix results (6-9), qualifying (5-10) and Grand Prix point-scoring results (8-12).

READ MORE: Everything to know about Ai Ogura from height to career stats

Oliveira, who has signed for new satellite Yamaha team Pramac for 2025, also got a podium finish in the Sprint Race at the German Grand Prix in P2. Fernandez almost got a podium in the Sprint Race at the Grand Prix of Catalunya after qualifying in P3 but crashed in the lead.

It was the first time that Fernandez had ever led a Sprint and he is still yet to score a podium finish in a Sprint or a Grand Prix in the Madrid native’s MotoGP career. But 2024 was still his best term in MotoGP yet, as Fernandez improved on his 14 and 51 points in 2022 and 2023.

His improvements, which convinced Brivio to name the Spaniard as Trackhouse’s lead rider, even came despite Fernandez hating Aprilia changing his bike mid-season. He was the only rider to start 2024 on a 2023-spec Aprilia bike but moved to their 2024-spec in the summer.