Trackhouse Racing entered the MotoGP World Championship this year, becoming the first American team in a long time. Their current two riders are Miguel Oliveira and Raúl Fernández, whose contracts expire at the end of 2024. The team may consider an American rider, and at the moment, the most likely candidate for that position is Joe Roberts.
The Moto2 rider, who attended the team’s official presentation earlier this year, admitted to being interested in a potential available seat there: ‘If the opportunity comes knocking, why not? For sure, it’d be awesome. But I’ve just to focus on this championship right now’, he said quoted on Crash.net.
Indeed, Roberts was close to moving up to the premier class in 2021 when he turned down an offer from… Aprilia, which supplies bikes to Trackhouse Racing. At the time, the RS-GP was far from the competitive bike it is now, while the rider felt he didn’t have the necessary experience to make the leap.
Now 26 years old and in his seventh full season in Moto2, Roberts is already a rider with a lot of miles in the world championships. At the moment, he is second in Moto2 after the first two rounds of the season – where he has already secured a podium.
It’s certain that for the American to move up to MotoGP with Trackhouse Racing, at least Oliveira or Fernández could lose their spot… or move up to Aprilia’s factory team, where Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales are also nearing the end of their contracts. However, Fabio Quartararo is considered a strong candidate for a possible spot if he does not renew with Yamaha.