Trackhouse Racing confirmed on Friday that Davide Brivio will leave his post as MotoGP team principal at the end of the 2026 season, ending a three-year stint with the American team and opening the door to a senior factory role at Honda HRC for 2027.
The 61-year-old Italian, who guided Suzuki to the 2020 MotoGP world title with Joan Mir before a detour into Formula 1 at Alpine, joined Trackhouse in 2024 when the team took over the former RNF Racing operation. His departure has been signalled for weeks inside the paddock, but the team's formal statement now puts a date on what comes next.
"I would like to express my sincere thanks to Trackhouse and to Justin Marks in particular, for giving me the opportunity to return to MotoGP," Brivio said.
"It has been an important step in both my professional and personal journey and it also gave me the opportunity to add the new experience of leading an independent team."
"Trackhouse is only at the beginning of its journey and I truly believe it has a great future ahead."
Trackhouse owner Justin Marks framed Brivio's contribution as the foundation block of the team's MotoGP project, which has grown from a clean-sheet entry in 2024 to a Sprint podium operation in 2026.
"Davide has been instrumental in establishing the Trackhouse MotoGP Team as a powerful force in the sport," Marks said.
"His expertise, experience, and vision have proven vital in the creation and development of our race team."
Marks indicated that a successor announcement would come before the end of the season and described the team's coming chapter as "extremely exciting and bright."
The Honda HRC role is yet to be officially confirmed by the manufacturer, but reports out of Italy and Spain indicate Brivio's brief will be broader than the traditional team manager position vacated by Alberto Puig last year. The Italian is expected to take on a senior commercial and racing advisory remit, with Puig himself shifting into an advisory role on the sporting side. Honda was reported by gpone.com to have approached Ducati Corse general manager Luigi Dall'Igna before pivoting to Brivio in early May.
Brivio's track record will appeal to a Honda operation still mired in its longest competitive slump in MotoGP history. The Italian rebuilt Suzuki from a customer-grade outfit in 2015 into a championship-winning team five seasons later, and his negotiation of the team's GP withdrawal in 2022 demonstrated both political nous and a willingness to take unpopular decisions. He spent 2021 and 2022 at Alpine F1 as racing director before returning to two wheels.
Trackhouse currently runs Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura, the latter the reigning Moto2 world champion. Fernandez carved his way to fourth in Saturday's Catalunya Sprint, the team's best Saturday result of the season, hours after Brivio's exit was made public. Neither rider has spoken publicly about the news.
For Honda, Brivio's signature represents the most significant front-office change since the manufacturer broke with longstanding policy and began leasing its factory bikes to independent teams. For Trackhouse, the loss is real, but Marks's framing of "a new chapter" suggests internal succession plans are already in motion. For the rider market, the Brivio move quietly tilts the balance of 2027 negotiations, with Honda now armed with a paddock veteran who knows how to make a season's worth of free agents pick up the phone.
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