Ogura (Aprilia) after near-crash with Bezzecchi: “It was entirely my fault!”

The MotoGP weekend at Sepang was a disastrous one for Aprilia. Not only did their leading rider, Jorge Martin, have to abandon his attempt to keep his World Championship hopes alive whilst suffering from an injured wrist, but Marco Bezzecchi was also unable to bolster his remaining chances of winning the World Championship. The battle between the Italian and Ai Ogura fitted right into the picture, as the rider from the Aprilia satellite team Trackhouse edged past the works rider to secure fourth place.

During the Japanese rider’s first attempt, there was contact between the two Aprilia RS-GPs, sending carbon fibre parts flying: “The contact was entirely my fault!” Ogura admitted immediately. “As we entered the first corner together, he knew I’d try to overtake him. He braked late and therefore strayed from the ideal line. I saw an opportunity to get past him, but I didn’t expect him to try to get back onto the ideal line. I expected him to stay off to the side so he could approach the second corner better. I misjudged the situation.”

Ogura had not yet spoken to representatives of the factory team at the time of his interview session: “I’ve had no contact with Aprilia’s management. But I’ll go and see Marco to apologise in person. When there’s such heavy contact in a battle for position, it comes as a shock. Fortunately, neither of us crashed,” said Ogura.

Ogura: “For me, today’s result was the best I could have hoped for!”

The rider with number 79 had started the race from fourth on the grid. He and Bezzecchi battled for the same position in Sunday’s MotoGP race. From the first lap, the 2024 Moto2 World Champion managed to hold on to 4th place ahead of ‘Bez’, before dropping back to 5th. It wasn’t until the final quarter of the Grand Prix that Ogura launched his final attack: “If I’d managed to stay ahead of Bez at the start, it would have been a different race for me. But I looked after my tyres better than the rest did. Pacing the tyres properly was the most important thing,” Ogura was certain. “The riders who finished ahead of me managed their race better. For me, today’s result was the best I could have hoped for.”

Fourth place was an improvement on last year, when Ai Ogura could not finish higher than 12th in the sprint race and no better than tenth in Sunday’s Grand Prix: “Sepang is the circuit where we struggle the most. This year, however, we were much closer to the front than in recent years. I expected this result.”

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06.11.2026 - 10:55