MotoGP title contender returns to scene of “one of my worst moments” in 2025
Ai Ogura returns to Silverstone, scene of a nasty knee injury in his rookie season, holding second in the MotoGP standings.
Ai Ogura’s 2025 Silverstone MotoGP weekend didn’t get beyond opening practice, when the Trackhouse Aprilia rider suffered a fracture to the top of his right tibia that also kept him out of the following Aragon round.
The Japanese returns holding second in the world championship, just 14-points behind Jorge Martin after outscoring the factory Aprilia rider in each of the last four rounds.
He has missed the podium only once in the past six races, finishing fourth in Germany, runner-up four times and winning the Dutch Grand Prix.
"Massive highside"
Ogura said he has spent the summer break enjoying “pure riding” away from the pressure of a grand prix weekend, and will now seek to banish last year’s Silverstone woes.
“Last year the situation in Silverstone was quite tough,” Ogura said.
“It was pretty early in the season, I was getting up to speed, building up my confidence, but on Friday morning I had a massive highside in the fast Turn 2 corner and got a knee injury which cost me a few races afterwards.
“Silverstone 2025 is one of my worst moments of that year, but the situation this year is quite different from last year.”
The future factory Yamaha rider said it's “almost impossible to make a perfect lap” at Silverstone but hopes to capitalise on the famous Northamptonshire circuit’s faster corners.
“Before I came to MotoGP I was not a big fan of flowing circuits and fast corners but, since I moved up to MotoGP, fast corners and flowing circuits became one of my strong points. Hopefully it works this time as well,” he said.
The combined efforts of Ogura and team-mate Raul Fernandez, sixth in the world championship, mean Trackhouse has been the highest scoring team over the past three rounds.
“We are very curious to see how things can proceed, whether we can keep our competitiveness going forward,” said team director Davide Brivio.
“Last year, Silverstone was not a weekend to remember for us, but it was in May, it was cold, and this year we go there in a completely different period and also in different shape.
“We’re really looking forward to Silverstone and are very curious to see how our riders come back from the summer break.
“It’s very important to continue to approach this weekend the same way we did lately, in Sachsenring or Assen.”
Aprilia riders have won at Silverstone for two of the last three years, courtesy of Aleix Espargaro (2023) and Marco Bezzecchi (2025).
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.
