I'll run my own race": Ai Ogura isn't making any concessions ahead of Motegi

Fired up and determined for his event of the year: Ai Ogura arrives at the Motegi GP with clear intentions.

The home Grand Prix is an important date, and this time Ai Ogura wants to be a leading protagonist. He’s coming off an anonymous weekend due to physical issues: a survival Sprint and a Sunday withdrawal because of a right-hand injury suffered in the previous GP. Now he’s fine; as usual he isn’t verbose, but there’s no “shyness” in his answers: an entire country is looking to him, the only Japanese rider in the premier class and already in the history books, and Ogura is determined not to disappoint expectations. It’s a real shame that the situation in the overall riders’ standings became complicated with the injury that forced him to miss two races, but the speed hasn’t gone away. He has already won at home in Moto2; the big dream would be at least a podium in MotoGP, if not more... That’s why the Trackhouse rider has already made it clear he won’t show mercy to anyone, not even his Aprilia colleagues in the title fight.

A touch of history: the last podium for a Japanese rider in the top class at the Japanese GP (not in MotoGP overall, just at this specific event) dates back 22 years. It was September 19, 2004, again at Motegi, when the home crowd celebrated Makoto Tamada’s victory and Shin’ya Nakano’s 3rd place. Now there’s another Japanese rider in the premier class and expectations are understandably quite high; the darling of the Land of the Rising Sun knows it well. “This season we’ve shown we’re fast,” Ai Ogura emphasized during Thursday’s press conference ahead of first practice. There’s some regret, as he compromised his charge towards the top of the overall standings: “It’s a shame I got injured before Aragon and had to miss two races. But we immediately found our speed again after the injury in Austria.”

Now it’s time for the home event, the most important of the year for him, and fortunately the injury is behind him. After the historic 2022 win and the two subsequent second places, all in Moto2—the class in which he was crowned 2024 world champion—came a setback in his rookie MotoGP year, a hand issue at the worst possible moment... This year Ogura has run into a new injury, but not now, and the goals are clearly ambitious. Can he repeat his Moto2 masterpieces? “I don’t know whether we’ll manage it or not, but this is the goal, so we’ll do everything we can.” Pressed on potential scenarios, like finding himself near Bezzecchi and Martin—therefore his Aprilia colleagues in the title hunt—Ogura opened up a bit more: “I’ll run my race and, if I have to pass Bez or Jorge, I’ll pass them.” Brief but crystal clear.

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