Why Japan’s new MotoGP superstar said no to Honda

Ai Ogura was seemingly destined to step up to MotoGP with Honda, but made the surprising decision last year to join the Trackhouse Aprilia squad instead.

The Japanese rider had came through the ranks of Honda - started from Asia Talent Cup, then raced for Honda Team Asia in Moto3 and Moto2 - and looked close to stepping up in 2024 with the Japanese brand with LCR Honda.

But he rejected this, saying that he wants to focus on winning a world title before get promoted to MotoGP.

That led for his sideways move from Honda Team Asia to MT Helmets - MSI for 2024, a decision that led to his Moto2 title that year.

Ai Ogura still got his MotoGP move in 2025, instead he signed with Trackhouse to ride a satellite Aprilia.

It’s a move that has worked out well, however, with Ogura becoming Japan’s first MotoGP race winner since 2004 earlier this season at the Dutch Grand Prix.

“I wasn’t ready”

In an exclusive interview with Crash at the Indonesian Grand Prix, we asked Ogura why he turned down Honda.

“I said no to Honda because I wasn’t ready for MotoGP,” he said.

“Also, I want to have one title before going to MotoGP; there are two biggest reasons.”

Ogura went on to win the Moto2 title in 2024, staying in Trackhouse for two years, and will got his big move to Yamaha factory next year.

“I just made a decision which I felt was best at the situation by the situation,” he added.

“So it’s not like I planned everything before, not like this. Of course, the proposal you get depends on your results.

“So you can’t plan everything three or four years ago, for sure. So, it’s really a situation year by year, situation by situation.

“I rarely have any kind of emotion about my decision that I made in the past.

“I don’t know something you can change, and I mean I feel like it’s no meaning to talk about it.

“So, if you ask me, I’m happy about the decision I made; I don’t know, no emotions about it.”

Ogura joins Yamaha in 2027

Trackhouse hadn’t planned to lose Ogura, but he forced its hand earlier this year when he signed a factory deal to join Jorge Martin at Yamaha in 2027.

He will join a project still very much in a rebuilding phase, with Yamaha’s last win dating back to the 2022 German Grand Prix.

On the challenge ahead, Ogura said: “My job is to do my 100% on the bike and give my comments to them.

“So how they use me it’s up to them, you can ask the Yamaha guys, not me.

“But as a rider the main job is to go faster the bike and do what you can on the bike.”