Davide Brivio: Ai Ogura “aligned to the top 4-5”, working method “will bring him far” - Exclusive
Davide Brivio insists he's "very happy" with Ai Ogura's rookie MotoGP season: "He has a working method which will bring him far.”
On paper, Ai Ogura’s rookie MotoGP season rapidly lost momentum after a brilliant debut in Thailand.
The reigning Moto2 champion finished his first premier-class Sprint in fourth place, less than one second behind former double MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia.
Ogura followed that up with another top non-Ducati finish for fifth in the grand prix for the best rookie debut since Marc Marquez in 2013.
But the Trackhouse Aprilia rider was then disqualified from eighth in Argentina due to a software homologation issue, before Gresini Ducati’s Fermin Aldeguer took control of the Rookie of the Year battle with two podiums at Le Mans.
Ogura’s season was then rocked by a leg fracture at Silverstone. It took until Catalunya, in September, for the Trackhouse rider to be back in the top six, only for a hand injury next time at Misano.
Returning for the final four rounds, Ogura took a best result of seventh at Portimao on his way to 16th in the final standings.
“The biggest problem for Ai were the two injuries, from the crashes in Silverstone and Misano. These slowed down the learning process,” Trackhouse team principal Davide Brivio told Crash.net.
“But apart from that, I'm very happy about his season.
"He had a positive rookie season in the way that he needed to learn things, understand things, make mistakes, make experience, and I think he’s done all that.”
Ogura’s race results were also hampered by an average starting position of just 16th on the grid.
“Compared to Moto2, MotoGP is a different approach,” Brivio added.
“Now in MotoGP, you have to be ready by Friday afternoon [for a place in Qualifying 2], otherwise the weekend is compromised.
"There are many more things, many engineers around, comments to give, requests to make, and so on.
“It's different, and you have to go through the process, and everybody has their own time.”
Ogura’s pace “aligned to the top 4-5”
Brivio, who previously oversaw MotoGP titles with Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and Joan Mir (Suzuki), highlighted Ogura's methodical approach.
“With Ai, I like the fact that he goes step by step. He wants to learn, understand each step, then move up to the next step," Brivio said.
“He has a working method and system, which I'm confident will bring him far."
The Italian added that there are already signs of future success.
“If you look at his pace, quite often in the second part of a race, he is always aligned to the top 4-5 group," Brivio explained.
“But if you have a bad qualifying, then it's difficult to recover.
“There some races where he had, for instance, to manage tyres, and he did that very well.
"So I think it was a very productive first rookie season.”
Looking ahead to 2026, Brivio expects Ogura to be “more experienced, more conscious of what he needs to do to be successful in MotoGP.
“I think there are for sure the conditions, including Aprilia’s improvements, to do better than we've done this year.”
Team-mate Raul Fernandez delivered Trackhouse’s first MotoGP victory at Phillip Island, adding a further podium at Valencia to finish tenth in the world championship.
In this article
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.