Ai Ogura "more in line with the other riders” in Malaysian MotoGP
Rookie Ai Ogura turned a lowly grid position into a top ten finish as the leading Aprilia rider in Sunday’s Malaysian MotoGP.
Ai Ogura once again paid the price for a lowly grid position before showing podium-level pace during the middle stages of the Malaysian MotoGP.
On the same weekend as he officially lost the Rookie of the Year contest to Fermin Aldeguer, the Trackhouse rider fought back from 17th to 12th in Saturday’s Sprint, then battled for eighth for much of Sunday’s grand prix.
Ogura eventually crossed the line in tenth, just 0.5s behind Luca Marini at the head of the group and ahead of Marco Bezzecchi to finish as the top Aprilia.
“Overall, I’m quite happy with my race,” Ogura said. “I think during this weekend, compared to the last few races, it’s clear that I’m much more in line with the other riders.
“Yet, there is still a lot to improve. Portimao is going to be a tough track to understand everything, but we will see what we can do in these final two rounds this year.”
Team Principal Davide Brivio praised Ogura’s pace and overtaking.
“We are happy for Ai. I think he had a good recovery from 17th to finish top ten. Especially at the end, he was very fast, had a good pace and did some good overtakes.
“So, this was a good job, we are quite pleased with that. As usual, his pace by the end of the race was very good and we’re happy about that.”
Ogura heads into the penultimate round in Portimao next weekend holding 16th in the world championship, with 79 points, compared to 186 for Aldeguer.
Team-mate Raul Fernandez, winner at the previous Phillip Island round, crashed out while just ahead of Ogura on lap 12 of 20.
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