Ai Ogura surprises with second-half podium pace in Hungary

Ai Ogura produced one of the least noticed performances of the Hungarian MotoGP, as he recovered from the back of the grid to eleventh.

The Trackhouse Aprilia rookie started last and finished 18.112s behind race winner Marc Marquez.

But that told part of the story, with only Marquez and runner-up Pedro Acosta faster than the Japanese during the second half of the grand prix.

Ogura was already 14th and 13.979s behind Marquez by the midway stage of the race, lap 13 of 26.

During the remaining 13 laps, Ogura lost only 4.113s to the Ducati Lenovo rider, an average of 0.3s per lap.

That was despite using the soft rear tyre, compared to the medium for Marquez.

KTM’s Acosta, who took a soft rear to second place, was only 1.6s quicker than Ogura.

Factory Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi (soft rear), who completed the podium in third, was 1.8s slower.

Team-mate Jorge Martin (medium rear), who claimed his best RS-GP result with fourth, was likewise 1.5s adrift of Ogura’s second-half pace. 

Fabio Quartararo also impressed in the second half, being the 4th fastest rider, with a lap 13-26 time 0.2s behind Ogura.

The Yamaha rider started from sixth on the grid, but had to serve a long lap early on. 

The KTMs of Brad Binder and Pol Espargaro were next quickest in the second half (full table at end of story).

Ogura’s hopes of a stronger result were lost as he tried to recover ground during the opening ten laps, after which he was quicker than at least one of the podium trio for 12 out of the next 16 laps.

“My pace wasn’t too bad [and] I gained a lot of positions, but they came from crashes in front and a few penalties of some other guys,” said Ogura, whose best race lap, on lap 12, was also 11th fastest overall.

“The positions I gained haven’t really been from me. The pace was OK, but from my starting position, I didn’t really gain a lot myself from the final result.”

Ogura, who began his MotoGP career by storming to 4th and 5th places at Buriram, hasn't finished in the top ten since Mugello.

A leg fracture at Silverstone has also contributed to Ogura slipping to 16th in the world championship (58 points), while rookie rival Fermin Aldeguer has risen to eighth for Gresini Ducati (126 points).

Aldeguer left Balaton Park with some 'regrets' after crashing, but then setting a pace close to Marquez in the closing laps.

Ranked in order of second-half race time.