Ai Ogura after setting the lap record: “I need more time to understand this”

Aprilia rider Ai Ogura has established himself amongst the frontrunners in the premier class. It is no coincidence that the 2027 Moto2 champion is sixth in the World Championship standings ahead of Races 17 and 18, just three points behind Marc Marquez. It therefore came as a surprise that Ogura performed so impressively on the factory-supported Aprilia on the first day of testing at Brno.

This was also because the Tokyo-born rider had struggled on his MotoGP debut. In 2025, he started both races from 21st on the RS-GP, finishing each without scoring any World Championship points. This latest performance was of a different calibre and is likely to have particularly pleased Yamaha’s management – in 2027, the Japanese rider will be riding an 850cc M1.

A welcome gift

In 2026, the celebrations for first place in qualifying – including a new track record – still belong to the Trackhouse team: Ogura was over half a second faster than Pecco Bagnaia in Q2 in 2025. A nice welcome gift for Francesco Guidotti, who was only introduced yesterday as the new team manager.

Ogura was already well in the mix in free practice, setting the fifth-fastest time. The 25-year-old coaxed the full potential out of his bike on the soft tyres. In the second half of the one-hour session, the times kept tumbling. But his team-mate and World Championship leader Bezzecchi also benefited and, minutes before the chequered flag, looked like the certain number 1. Then Ogura pushed even harder – 1:51.735 min.

First place in the crucial qualifying session – a double victory for the Japanese rider, whose weakness had always been the opening sessions of the weekend. Ogura nevertheless kept a cool head and summed it up: “It was a very good session, but pole position won’t be decided until Saturday. I haven’t actually done anything different from the last few race weekends. I’ll need a bit more time to understand what I did differently or better. And: my laps were anything but perfect. I’m losing time in the second sector in particular – my crew chief has already pointed that out to me.”

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The heat is a bonus

However, the Trackhouse rider was still able to name one factor contributing to his success: “The hot temperatures definitely suit me. The fact that it’s significantly warmer in the afternoon has certainly helped me.”

On the track, Aprilia has recovered very well from the rain at Balaton. First and second places, and Raul Fernandez also made it through to Q2. Only Jorge Martin narrowly missed out, finishing eleventh.