What Trackhouse saw in Ogura that made him a surprise MotoGP signing

Ai Ogura’s performance in Thailand took everyone in the paddock by surprise. At the Buriram circuit, the Japanese rider managed to qualify fifth on the grid in his very first MotoGP qualifying session a feat that he surpassed later that afternoon by finishing fourth in the sprint race, behind only Marc Marquez, his brother Alex, and Francesco Bagnaia. On Sunday in the main race, the Japanese rider crossed the finish line in fifth, marking the best debut since 2013, when Marc Marquez stormed into MotoGP with third place on debut in Qatar.

The Japanese rider’s maiden MotoGP outing was almost as striking as the announcement of his promotion to the premier class with Trackhouse – one that no one saw coming. At the time, all eyes in Moto2 were on other candidates such as Sergio Garcia or Tony Arbolino, who remain in the intermediate category.

Following that impressive display in Buriram, Ogura’s name has dominated the headlines. However, the real intrigue is in understanding what Trackhouse’s bosses saw in him more than six months ago when negotiations began and wrapped up surprisingly quickly. The key figures in the operation were Davide Brivio, the director of Aprilia’s satellite team, and Jordi Pons, Ogura’s agent.

“I hadn’t followed him closely in his earlier stages, but last year in Moto2, I was impressed by how he managed to get out of tough situations,” Brivio told Autosport about the 2024 Moto2 world champion. “At the same time, I noticed his riding style, which seemed suited for MotoGP. I was convinced after speaking with Matteo Baiocco [Aprilia test rider]. With those indicators, we went after him. The fact that he was Japanese made him an interesting prospect, but we couldn’t test him beforehand, so there was some risk involved.”

Brivio consulted Aprilia about the plan, even though he had full autonomy in the decision, as Trackhouse will cover the salaries of Ogura and Raul Fernandez in 2025. Once they had set their sights on Ogura, the next step was to win him over.

The year before, Ogura had made one of the boldest moves in the Moto2 market, parting ways with Honda, the manufacturer that had supported him throughout his development, to join the MT team. But his signing wasn’t straightforward due to the conditions, as he joined a team backed by a Spanish helmet manufacturer MT, yet insisted on continuing to wear his own Japanese brand Arai.

Few were as familiar with that transition, or his later jump to MotoGP, as his manager Pons. The Catalan has worked with Ogura since his Asia Talent Cup days and since then has grown to understand the 24-year-old well.

“I don’t know if people realise what it means for a Japanese rider raised under Honda’s wing to walk into HRC and tell them he’s leaving,” Pons explained. “On top of that, what many don’t know is that Ai’s father and Hiroshi Aoyama, the director of Team Asia, are very close friends. It couldn’t have been easy for him to stand in front of Aoyama and tell him he was leaving.”

When Brivio called Pons, the agent reached out to Ogura, who had to make a decision almost immediately on whether to sever ties with Honda for good and join Trackhouse and Aprilia. “Ai told me he needed five minutes. After that, he called me back and said he was in,” Pons added.

When asked to describe Ogura, both Brivio and Pons agree: “He’s an atypical Japanese rider.” However, Brivio has identified something in him that makes him an exciting project: “We’ve found a diamond that now needs polishing. He’s very humble but also very sharp. He learns quickly and doesn’t stop. Once he masters one thing, he moves on to the next.

“On Saturday, he told us he learned a lot by riding behind Pecco, and on Sunday, he said he applied it in the race, which allowed him to finish fifth.”