Trackhouse rider Ogura on his duel with Marc Márquez: “It was a heated battle!”

Trackhouse Aprilia ace Ai Ogura led the MotoGP Sprint at the Sepang International Circuit until three laps from the end and appeared to be in control of the tricky race. And yet the Asian rider crossed the finish line in only fourth place. The Japanese rider, who is not usually particularly talkative, was understandably annoyed and even quieter than usual. “If I’d finished in the top three, I’d have been happy. But in the end I was last in that group, so no – there’s no reason to be happy.”

Ogura reported: “After it started raining, I was in the lead for a few laps. But my pace stalled. I had no one in front of me to use as a reference; I was riding my laps all on my own,” said the 2024 Moto2 champion, who had taken the lead on lap 3 following Alex Márquez’s crash . “My pace then remained the same later on, whilst the three riders behind me were simply faster and gradually overtook me. It’s difficult to deal with a situation like that.”

However, the rider currently fifth in the World Championship was pleased with his pace compared to Friday: “It came as a surprise to us. Overnight, my team did an excellent job and enabled me to gain more speed and consistency. Our performance was significantly better than yesterday. After qualifying, I’d more or less expected the race to unfold like this – so yes, I’m satisfied with what we’ve achieved.”

Ai Ogura versus Marc Marquez: controlled chaos

On the duel with World Championship leader Marc Marquez at the start of the race, which was repeated in the closing stages: “After I’d made up a few places following the start, there was a bit of a battle with Marc. We went side by side through the same section several times – it was pretty intense. I had to defend my position, but I knew he had better pace than me and wanted to overtake me. As we were entering the corner at almost the same speed, I naturally tried to hold my position. So it was a bit chaotic, but in the end he beat me.”

Commenting on the difficult conditions of leading a MotoGP race, Ogura concluded: “When it had already started raining, I led for a few laps and I was surprised that Pedro didn’t overtake me. That’s when I thought: maybe my pace isn’t too bad after all. I carried on, but in the end they were much faster – and I was slow.”

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Sepang: International Livestream

MotoGP World Championship

01.11.2026 - 03:35

As Ai Ogura finished behind his direct rival Acosta in the battle for fourth place in the World Championship, the gap to the Spanish KTM rider widened to 10 points. At the same time, he consolidated his lead over his closest pursuer, Fabio Di Giannantonio, who also finished fifth in the race.