Ai Ogura: “I hope I pass the medical check” for Italian MotoGP

MotoGP rookie Ai Ogura is hoping to make his return to action at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, pending a medical check.

The Trackhouse Aprilia rider has been sidelined since fracturing his right tibia during opening practice at Silverstone.

The injury required surgery and forced the Japanese rider to miss the British GP, the subsequent Aragon round and official post-race test.

“First of all, I feel a lot better with my leg now – I start to feel I can ride a bike and I can race, so I think my physical condition is going in a good direction,” said Ogura.

“I have been off the bike since Silverstone, which doesn’t seem to be a long time, but I missed one race and the test, so I also believe I will need to have a bit of recovery time during the early session in the race weekend.

“That’s part of the game and I hope I pass through the medical check on Thursday. If everything is OK, I can’t wait to be on my bike again and start to build up everything from the beginning.

“I’m impatient to get back on the bike and work with my team. I need racing now and I’m happy to get going.”

Ogura made an eye-catching start to his MotoGP campaign with top-five finishes at Buriram but has since slipped to 12th in the championship standings.

Despite missing two rounds – four races including Sprints – he remains seven places ahead of his more experienced team-mate Raul Fernandez.

However, Ogura now trails Gresini Ducati rider Fermin Aldeguer by 30 points in the rookie of the year contest.

“Ai is going to have the last medical check on Thursday at the track and then we will know whether he will be able to race or not,” said Trackhouse team director Davide Brivio.

“We know that if he is able to race, he probably won’t be at 100%, but it will be very important to get back on the bike, restart and keep up the pace.”

Team-mate Fernandez is confident he can build on progress at the Aragon test, where he was tenth fastest.

“At the test in Aragon we made another step,” said Fernandez. “The last three races have been quite good for us and now the aim is to keep the same line of progress – I would like to make another step forward.”

Brivio added: “We come from some good races with Raul, where he found a better pace and a good rhythm. Especially after the Monday test in Aragon, we also had the possibility to test new items and work a little bit on the setting.

“So, hopefully, we will be able to put everything on the track during this weekend.”