Japanese Resurgence: Why the Ai Ogura–Yamaha pairing has already rewritten MotoGP history

Ai Ogura and the Yamaha factory team, a future pairing that is already a piece of MotoGP World Championship history: here’s why.

A Japanese rider will wear the colors of a Japanese manufacturer in MotoGP. For Honda it’s recent history (Takaaki Nakagami at LCR), while in the case of Yamaha we need to go a bit further back to find the latest Land of the Rising Sun riders who wore blue full-time. A quick reminder: the official Yamaha team was born in 1999, after Wayne Rainey’s squad (which ran with factory support) withdrew, in the final years of the 500cc era before MotoGP took over in 2001. But between half-liter and the current class, you can’t say Yamaha has fielded that many “home” riders—quite the opposite... And in the last decade we’ve only seen sporadic appearances as substitutes or wild cards, between the factory team and the then-satellite Tech3 squad.

Last weekend Ai Ogura seemed almost embarrassed when he was compared to Makoto Tamada, the only Japanese rider to win in MotoGP before him. “It’s been a long time” commented the Trackhouse Aprilia rider, almost deeming himself unworthy of such a comparison. Ogura’s modesty is well known, but it’s clearly over the top by now, given that from his very arrival in Moto3 he barged straight into Grand Prix racing history. What’s peculiar about Japan is that it doesn’t boast that many world champions, but a great many riders who passed through the World Championship managed to leave a mark, influencing—almost bewitching—especially European riders. Ogura is no different: we particularly recall the words of his future teammate Jorge Martin, who was especially impressed by the riding style of his Trackhouse brand-mate. “In every corner he looks almost on the verge of crashing” Martin remarked with admiration at the post-Assen press conference, admitting he could never copy such a style.

But did you know there has never been a Japanese rider in the Yamaha factory team? That doesn’t mean, however, that the three tuning forks haven’t had their own representatives in the premier class. The most famous Japanese riders who raced with Yamaha in the top class are impossible to forget: Norifumi Abe, Shin’ya Nakano, Noriyuki Haga. The first was a role model even for a certain Valentino Rossi, who adopted the nickname “Rossifumi” to honor and remember him. “Norick,” who died in a road accident in 2007, aside from his very first World Championship races with Honda, then spent 99% of his career with Yamaha. First in 500cc from 1995, then in MotoGP from 2001; in 2003 he was a tester/wild card for Yamaha Racing, replacing the injured Melandri for a few GPs, and in 2004 he returned as a full-time rider with Tech3, before doing two seasons in Superbike (2005-2006). Nakano, meanwhile, was a Yamaha Tech3 stalwart in 250cc (1998-2000), in 2001 in 500cc with a podium, and for a couple of years in MotoGP (2002-2003). Haga built his career in SBK, but in Grand Prix racing with Yamaha he boasts a 500cc podium in 1998 and a full season again in the half-liter class.

Let’s go further back in time: the 1970s. Hideo Kanaya raced with Yamaha in 500cc between ’72 and ’75, taking three GP wins, 15 total podiums, and 3rd in the championship. A few years later (1976-1978) came Takazumi Katayama, three 500cc podiums with Yamaha before moving to other brands. We also find Tadahiko Taira in 500cc with Yamaha between 1984 and 1991, with a 3rd place at Brno in ’87 as his only podium. Later, in 1998, Kyōji Nanba contested five 500cc GPs with Yamaha, with a 5th place as his best result. Toshihiko Honma, a very occasional presence in Grand Prix racing particularly in 250cc, but between 1991 and 1994 he contested one 500cc GP per year with Yamaha, scoring points three times with as many top eights.

In 2010 test rider Wataru Yoshikawa raced in Catalunya for the injured Valentino Rossi, and in the following two-year period another tester, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, contested two GPs for the injured Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies. Since then, no Japanese riders have been seen in the factory team, not even sporadically. Looking also at Tech3, the last “one-off” presence was Kohta Nozane, who in 2017, as a Yamaha test rider, contested the Japanese GP in place of Folger, sidelined by health issues. Not a bad list of names, but it’s a big gamble for Yamaha: as we mentioned earlier, they have never had a full-time Japanese rider in the factory team before! A great honor for Ai Ogura, with the attendant pressure...

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