Checkered Weekend: Prado Fined After Salt Lake City, Brivio Leaves Trackhouse for Honda & Stenhouse Re-Signs With Hyak

The Prado gets fined after giving Webb a gesture in Salt Lake City. One of MotoGP's most respected team principals is heading to Honda. And a NASCAR veteran secured his future at a team he has helped build from the ground up. Here is the weekend in motorsport.

Prado Fined After Gesture Directed at Webb in Salt Lake City

The ongoing tension between Jorge Prado and Cooper Webb reached a new flashpoint at Round 17 of the SuperMotocross World Championship in Salt Lake City, with Prado fined and docked one rider license point after directing an obscene hand gesture at Webb following the finish.

Prado crossed the line six-tenths of a second ahead of Webb and extended his middle finger in Webb's direction after the race. SMX Media confirmed that race direction reviewed the incident and determined Prado had violated the code of conduct.

"Race Direction reviewed an incident involving Rider 26 and Rider 1 in section 8 after the finish line," SMX Media stated. "After review, it was determined that Rider 26 violated the code of conduct by using an obscene hand gesture during the competition. Rider 26 was assessed one rider license point and a fine."

The two riders have clashed repeatedly throughout the 2026 season. At Denver the weekend prior, Webb threw a block pass on Prado late in the race that sent Prado to the ground. Prado had grabbed the holeshot and was running at the front before the contact, ultimately finishing sixth. Webb went down in the incident and finished 11th, his first result outside the top 10 all season. The pair also made contact at Round 11 in Detroit, where Prado finished 13th and Webb sixth.

Prado did not hold back when addressing the situation after Salt Lake City. "I'm always the guy that's taken out. I never take him out, so he's going pretty aggressive with me," Prado said. "If he was much faster, he would've passed me, as the other riders did. So I just focused on myself, and hopefully next year I'm a bit better so I don't need to be fighting with him and being upfront."

Brivio Leaving Trackhouse to Join Honda's MotoGP Restructure

Davide Brivio will leave his role as Trackhouse Aprilia team principal to join Honda Racing Corporation in 2027 as an internal consultant, as part of the Japanese manufacturer's ongoing restructuring of its MotoGP operation.

The news, first reported by Sky Italia and confirmed by Motorsport, marks Brivio's return to a factory environment after several years on the satellite side. His track record in MotoGP management is difficult to argue with. At Yamaha, he was central to building the structure around Valentino Rossi and later Jorge Lorenzo. At Suzuki, he guided Joan Mir to the 2020 MotoGP world title. He then spent time at Alpine's Formula 1 operation before departing at the end of 2023 and joining Trackhouse when Justin Marks' organization took over from RNF in 2024.

Honda's restructure has seen Japanese executives take a significantly more prominent role in decision-making. The operation that secured Fabio Quartararo as the manufacturer's lead rider from 2027 was handled directly by Taichi Honda, and the decision to extend Johann Zarco's contract by two additional years was also driven by the Japanese management group, a move that drew some surprise in the paddock given the broader market situation.

Quartararo is confirmed for the factory HRC garage from 2027, with David Alonso expected to join him under a pre-contract agreement. That would leave Zarco and Diogo Moreira at the satellite LCR team. Honda's previously discussed expansion to six bikes through a potential Tech3 arrangement appears increasingly unlikely, with the Guenther Steiner-led French outfit now expected to remain aligned with KTM.

Alberto Puig, Honda's team manager since 2018, is expected to renew his contract when it expires at the end of the current season.

Stenhouse Re-Signs With Hyak on Multi-Year Deal

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has signed a multi-year contract extension with Hyak Motorsports, keeping him in the No. 47 Chevrolet for the foreseeable future.

Stenhouse has been with the organization since 2020, when it was still operating as JTG Daugherty Racing. The team rebranded as Hyak ahead of the 2025 season. He brings nearly 500 Cup starts and four victories to the table, all coming at superspeedways, including the 2023 Daytona 500.

Hyak operates as a single-car team, a group that in the current Cup landscape also includes the Haas Factory Team, Rick Ware Racing, and Wood Brothers Racing. Stenhouse currently sits 27th in the standings, with a second-place finish at the Daytona 500 as his best result of the 2026 season.

"It's never easy being a single-car team, but the experience we're gaining and the notebook we're building is helping us get better and better," Stenhouse said. "More than anything, this team feels like one big family. On and off the racetrack, we're building something that has me really excited about the future of Hyak Motorsports."

Team owner Gordon Smith pointed to Stenhouse's experience and leadership as central to what the team is trying to build. "He brings experience, leadership, and a competitive mindset every weekend, and we believe there's still a lot ahead for this team with Ricky in the No. 47."