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Regular podium finisher Ogura: “It’s unbelievable how much the tyre has deteriorated!”

Trackhouse-Aprilia hero Ai Ogura raced to second place in the MotoGP Sprint at Silverstone. The Japanese rider, known as the ‘tyre whisperer’, also reported problems with the rear tyre of his RS-GP after the race.

MotoGP

08.08.2026 - 19:27

This article is an automatically generated English version. The original article was published in German.

Ai Ogura stand als Zweiter erneut auf dem MotoGP-Sprint-Podium
© Gold and Goose

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MotoGP World Championship

09.08.2026 - 10:35

The MotoGP World Championship kicked off the second half of the season on Saturday with an impressive Aprilia one-two-three finish in the Silverstone Sprint. However, the race turned into a tyre battle that was entirely unexpected, as the tyres struggled to last the distance this time round. The best example was world champion Marc Marquez, who slowed down dramatically after just a few laps and, finishing ninth, was only just able to salvage a single championship point.

Trackhouse-Aprilia rider Ai Ogura finished second, 1.5 seconds behind winner Jorge Martin, in front of team owner Justin Marks. Even the 25-year-old Japanese rider complained this time about the tyres’ severe degradation, which had also caused winner Martin serious concerns. “The start was quite good, but it was a really tough race,” Ogura admitted, adding: “It was unbelievable how much the rear tyre degraded. I wasn’t at all sure whether I’d be able to finish the race.”

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For Ogura, it was his third second-place finish of the 2026 season in a sprint race and the brand’s first one-two-three finish in a sprint. “We managed the situation, though, and still secured second place. There’s still plenty to do for Sunday, though; we’ll keep working on it. Of course, we all knew that the soft rear tyre would start to wear out at some point. Jorge managed his tyre very well, whereas mine started to wear out more quickly. So there was nothing I could do against him today. Second place is good – I’m happy. To be honest, it went better than we’d expected.”

The Japanese rider added: “To be honest, I have no explanation as to why the rear tyre degraded so badly. In qualifying, you do a maximum of two or three fast laps – not ten laps. But this morning, everyone went out on used soft tyres and racked up quite a few laps – even more than ten. And the tyre degradation wasn’t as severe then. I’m expecting more or less a similar racing style for Sunday. It’ll probably be a different rear tyre, but over the distance it’ll likely be a similar story.”

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MotoGP World Championship

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No response to Quartararo’s theory

“Everyone was happy with the soft rear tyre. There were no problems – only in the race,” he concluded his own analysis. Ogura sidestepped Fabio Quartararo’s suggestion that Aprilia might be able to keep the tyre temperature lower: “I can’t say – I only know the Aprilia.”

Ahead of Sunday’s main race, the 2024 Moto2 champion remains in second place in the World Championship standings – his deficit to winner Martin has increased by three points to 17.

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