Trackhouse Racing’s first MotoGP weekend at Silverstone under its current guise ended abruptly on Sunday, after both riders crashed on the first lap.
The two drivers lined up in 14th and 15th places for Sunday’s race, with Raul Fernandez ahead of Miguel Oliveira, and the pair swapping positions in the early stages of the opening lap.
Oliveira then raced towards Brooklands before Fernandes, who was closing in on him, did worse, breaking clear and bringing down his team-mate.
The Spaniard cited his choice of hard front tyre – which he and Aleix Espargaro only used on a cold day that generally didn’t suit such a choice – and a full tank at the start as factors, but admitted he made a mistake and apologised profusely to his team for snuffing out any chance of Trackhouse scoring points.
This unfortunate incident meant that the 75th anniversary celebration of MotoGP, which celebrated the winners of the premier class in America, was only a short appearance.
“First of all I would like to apologise to the team,” Fernandez said after the race. “I had an accident and the moment I was on the ground, my bike hit Miguel and caused the accident to happen to Miguel.
“Honestly, it was very difficult, because yesterday we had a lot of problems with the soft tyres and on the grid we decided to go for the hard tyres. We thought it was the right choice, but at the start of the race I maybe made a little mistake with the full tank and this light rain. [spotted at some corners early in the race] And it crashed.
“I didn’t touch Miguel before the accident, I crashed my bike and touched Miguel. But anyway I can’t say much, we worked really well and I feel bad for myself because in the end it was a very important week for the team and because of my accident they didn’t get points. SI would like to apologise to the team.
“In the race we weren’t ready to be in the top five, but maybe being in the top ten was realistic, so the bad thing is that I lost all the points for me and Miguel as well.”
For his part, Oliveira said the incident was “one of those things.”
“I made a few turns,” he said. “I was already on the turn when Raul’s bike hit mine, and that’s it. I have nothing else to say. It’s one of those things. Wrong place, wrong time.”
Both riders avoided serious injury in the incident, with Oliveira – whose 2023 season has been littered with injuries sustained in multiple bike crashes – suffering minor bruising to his coccyx and leg.
It was a shameful end to Fernandes’ first weekend with the 2024-spec Aprilia, having ridden the year-old bike earlier this year.
