Davide Brivio confirms Wilco Zeelenberg Trackhouse Aprilia departure

Trackhouse Aprilia team principal Davide Brivio confirmed last weekend that Wilco Zeelenberg will leave the team at the end of the 2024 season.

Zeelenberg, who began at the Trackhouse team in its original incarnation as the Petronas SRT Yamaha team when it debuted in 2019, will leave the satellite Aprilia project after what is the outfit’s second season with the Noale brand, it’s first under the Trackhouse name.

Speaking to MotoGP.com pit lane reporter Simon Crafar before the Aragon MotoGP race at MotorLand last Sunday, Brivio, who joined Trackhouse at the beginning of 2024, explained that Zeelenberg’s departure was a “very hard” conclusion to reach, and that it’s part of the American-owned team trying to find “some different direction”.

“This [Zeelenberg’s departure] is something that we discussed,” Brivio said. “We took this decision. A big credit to Wilco [Zeelenberg] for what he’s done.

“Honestly speaking, I arrived and I found a team that he has built through the years, and the team also, for the most part, is not going to change next year, so a big credit for what he has built up.

“As Trackhouse, we thought that maybe, going to the future, we had to find some different direction. It’s sad from one side, it’s business on the other side.

“It’s always a difficult situation, and it’s been very hard to come to this conclusion.”

Zeelenberg’s future is currently unconfirmed. A former 250cc Grand Prix winner, the Dutchman worked as team manager on Jorge Lorenzo’s, and then Maverick Vinales’, side of the factory Yamaha MotoGP garage until he joined the Petronas SRT team as team manager in 2019.