Ai Ogura (6th) was kept very busy: non-stop action with Fernández and Acosta

It was already clear after the first day of testing at the Mobility Resort Motegi that it would be a tough challenge for Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura. On the Honda home circuit, which offered little in the way of fluidity, the Japanese rider had failed to make it into the top 10 MotoGP riders. Although he managed to qualify for Q2 at the last minute, even with the supposed home advantage, he could not secure a better starting position than 11th.

This made the celebrations among Ogura’s fan community all the more jubilant when number 79 crossed the line in a strong fifth place in the Sprint. However, despite a very good ride, the result was only possible following a mistake by Alex Márquez, which took three of the frontrunners out of the race.

At the Japanese Grand Prix, the 2024 Moto2 champion – who had to miss last year’s GP – once again put in a superb performance. Ogura laid the foundations right from the start. Moreira, Di Giannantonio and Zarco were overtaken straight away. The Japanese rider, who had only just returned from injury in Austria, quickly found himself in a trio with team-mate Raul Fernandez and KTM works rider Pedro Acosta.

The battle for fifth place defined the race for the three riders, as Ogura explained: “Once I’d passed Pedro, I was also a bit faster than Raul in front of me. I’d devised a plan, but I couldn’t carry it out – because of Pedro. He kept up with me and then overtook me again.”

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Ogura continued: “When I was back behind Raul, he managed to maintain his pace right to the finish line; he rode very well and made no mistakes. That really took it out of me mentally. Sixth place is fine, but it could have been even better for the fans too. I’m already thinking about next year’s home Grand Prix – that motivates me.”

The Trackhouse rider, who had lost 15 seconds to the winner and 13 to the best Aprilia ridden by Martin over the 24 laps, commented on the intense tyre debate at Motegi: “It was certainly something special here. I think even in the warm-up, a lot of riders were still planning to use the medium tyre. Then it turned out to be the hard tyre for everyone – which was a good thing. I can’t complain, and after the race the tyre wear pattern was spot on.”

Ogura’s solid performance, finishing 5th and 6th in Japan, coupled with the fact that Fabio Di Giannantonio failed to score points on two occasions, has seen him climb the overall standings. With 239 points, Ogura is fifth ahead of the Indonesian Grand Prix.

Willkommen zum Rennen in Motegi

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Pedro Acosta

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Fans

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Pecco Bagnaia

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Jorge Martin

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Start des Rennens

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Jorge Martin

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Ai Ogura

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Fermin Aldeguer

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Pedro Acosta

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Jorge Martin und Marc Márquez

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Raúl Fernández

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Enea Bastianini

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Ogura und Fernández

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Luca Marini

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Marc Márquez gewinnt das Rennen

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Sieger Marc Márquez

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Jorge Martin, Marc Márquez, Marco Bezzecchi

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Sieger Marc Márquez

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Willkommen zum Rennen in Motegi

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