Marks (Trackhouse): “The next US MotoGP champion is probably three years old”

When Trackhouse announced its entry into MotoGP at the end of 2023, taking over from RNF-Aprilia, the new team was also intended to bridge the gap between the World Motorcycle Championship and the important US market. For Trackhouse owner Justin Marks, nothing has changed in that regard. However, Liberty Media’s takeover of MotoGP has changed the circumstances.

Marks revealed on the sidelines of the recent Silverstone weekend that, when he entered MotoGP, he was unaware of the takeover by the US media group that was then taking shape behind the scenes.

“We want to represent this sport 100 per cent in America,” Marks clarified. “What I didn’t know when we got involved was that the Liberty deal was already in the works behind the scenes. I knew nothing about it. Looking back, I thought to myself: ‘OK, now I might understand why they invited me – or rather, us – to be part of it.’”

Trackhouse aligns with Liberty

Once Liberty Media’s plans had become public, Trackhouse adjusted its own strategy. Rather than pressing ahead independently, Marks intends to coordinate his activities with the plans of the new MotoGP owner. “When we heard about Liberty, we took our foot off the accelerator a bit. Whatever strategy Liberty is pursuing to grow this sport in North America – we need to be aligned with it,” explained the American.

Meanwhile, the plans are becoming more concrete: “We’re slowly getting a clearer picture of how Liberty intends to present and market the sport in America.” Marks is actively seeking to collaborate on this. “I’ve spoken to the people at Liberty and told them that we need to be their partner in their North American strategy. We’re having lots of discussions about it and working on various things.”

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Marks believes the potential of the North American market is enormous. At the same time, he sees a great deal of ground to make up when it comes to raising awareness of the MotoGP World Championship. “There are 350 to 400 million people in America and almost none of them know about MotoGP. We have a platform that allows us to introduce people to the sport and convey its appeal to them.”

Justin Marks’ big dream: working with a US rider

In the long term, however, Marks is concerned with more than just marketing and increasing viewer numbers. The former racing rider would like to see a successful US rider back in MotoGP. He cites the 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden as a major role model.

“I grew up as a huge fan of Nicky,” Marks recalled. From this, he derives an ambitious goal for Trackhouse: “The Holy Grail for us would be to win a MotoGP race with an American rider on the bike.”

However, this is not a goal that can be achieved in the short term. Marks sees a fundamental problem in the American youth development system. Whilst European talents are introduced to the World Motorcycle Championship at a young age via national series and junior classes, there is currently no comparable structure in the US.

“The infrastructure in America isn’t currently in place to produce such talent,” the Trackhouse boss admitted. His team would, however, like to play a part in changing this in the long term: “We’d very much like to help find and develop such talent.”

Marks is under no illusions, however, about how long such a project would take. Of all his team’s plans for the US market, developing a future American MotoGP star is likely to be the most long-term endeavour. The Trackhouse owner came up with a striking comparison to illustrate the scale of the project: “The next American MotoGP world champion is probably just three years old.”

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