Tireless Ai Ogura: riding every day to prepare for the 2026 MotoGP season

MotoGP will be back in action in a couple of weeks for the first 2026 Tests at Sepang, but some riders have been training non-stop ever since the 2025 season ended. Ai Ogura, aside from a couple of promotional events including the Trackhouse Racing photoshoot for yesterday’s presentation, has been training in Japan away from the spotlight—more than anyone else.

Since last November, the 2024 Moto2 World Champion has practically been on a bike every single day. Whether at Okegawa, the base circuit for his training, or on motocross and flat track courses, he’s always putting in the work. He’s also explained his reasoning, noting that this isn’t common practice among all his MotoGP colleagues.

As a guest at an event organized by Arai that drew around 200 fans and enthusiasts, Ai Ogura explained that since Valencia he has taken only four days off from training. A forced break, due to travel and promotional commitments. Otherwise, he’s always riding: without a bike, without training, he gets bored. That’s why he tries to get on a bike as much as possible and, whenever he can, even runs race simulations with fellow riders—on track, motocross, flat track, and more. He even went to Taiwan for a KUSHITANI sponsor event and, while there, spent plenty of time riding and training.

After an exhilarating debut in Buriram, Ai Ogura’s rookie MotoGP season was hampered by a double injury (Silverstone and Misano). He’s in good shape now and, for 2026, he has also decided to move back to Japan between races since in Spain, once training is done, he doesn’t have much to do and, as the saying goes, he can’t sit still.