Ai Ogura pushes Marquez for MotoGP victory but “we found another weak point”

The Brno MotoGP was a breakthrough event for Ai Ogura, who banished his qualifying struggles in style with a maiden pole position before challenging for victory in both races.

The Sprint saw Ogura hold second place behind Pecco Bagnaia from start to finish, before leading a MotoGP race lap for the first time in Sunday's grand prix.

However, the Ducatis of Bagnaia and eventual winner Marc Marquez both swept past the Trackhouse Aprilia rider on lap two.

“Overall the race weekend was fantastic for us,” Ogura reflected.

“Qualifying was one of the most weak points for us, and we managed to do it better this time.

“But we found another weak point which was the first few laps after the start.

“That’s what we learned from this race.”

However, Ogura’s famed late-race pace saw him re-pass Bagnaia and chase down Marquez, eventually finishing just 0.4s behind the reigning champion.

“I was pushing, but Ai was there always,” Marquez admitted afterwards.

“Second in both races is a good result still, so we can be super happy about the weekend,” said Ogura.

“I enjoyed the first laps, but just for a few laps because they passed me. I feel like I could have more, but no. It’s nice to experience that anyway.

“Later I felt better and I could see the lap times we were going really, really quick towards the end of the race.

“But Marc was on the same pace.

“He had a great pace and I couldn’t catch him. At one point I was like, let me win this one because you have so many already!”

Ogura’s best MotoGP weekend moves him up to fifth in the world championship, 46 points from factory Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi.

“Against these guys, I don't think I’m in the championship fight yet. I will try to make myself better,” Ogura said.