“Lucky” Sprint issue helps Ai Ogura secure Sachsenring MotoGP podium

Ai Ogura admitted he was surprised to emerge as Marc Marquez's closest challenger in Sunday's German MotoGP.

The Trackhouse Aprilia rider had suffered front tyre woes on his way to fourth in the Sprint, but the “lucky” experience ultimately helped Ogura in the grand prix.

The Japanese went on to achieve his fifth top-two result from the last six races.

“The positions this weekend are a lot higher than we expected,” Ogura said.

“I think we can be super, super happy, especially today.

“I had nothing for Marc, but finishing second to Marc here is a good result anyway.”

"Probably I was lucky..."

Ogura added: “Probably I was lucky that I had the front issue already yesterday in the sprint race.

“We worked on that in the warm-up, and it paid off in the main race.

“I think today we could manage the front tyre very well and keep our pace until the end.”

Starting fifth on the grid, Ogura held an early fourth place, which became third after Alex Marquez’s accident.

The Assen winner then overtook team-mate Raul Fernandez to secure second place with six laps to go.

“I could see Raul start to struggle. I had a better front feeling, I guess.

“We managed the situation very well, the overtakes and everything.”

Ogura now heads into the summer break second in the world championship, just 14 points behind factory Aprilia rider Jorge Martin.

“I can rate my first half of the season really high. I mean, 10 out of 10. I didn't expect to be this strong this year,” he said.