Ai Ogura admitted he was “not so happy” with his Sprint simulation at the Sepang MotoGP test, despite feeling more comfortable on Aprilia’s 2026 RS-GP.
The Trackhouse rider finished 12th overall, 0.924s behind pace-setter Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and 0.8s adrift of factory Aprilia benchmark Marco Bezzecchi.
However, Ogura, who was battling a cold on the final day, acknowledged that he “expected a bit more” from the long run, where he was a step behind the leading riders.
Spanish MotoGP Test Sprint sims: Top 6 plus Ai Ogura.
“I think it’s [a matter of] matching the rider and the bike. I expected to go a few tenths faster in the long run, but I couldn’t,” he explained.
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“I have a good feeling with the new bike. Even I’m riding in the same lap time whether I’m on the ‘26 or ’25, I have a better feeling on ’26.
“But to make that last extra push wasn’t really easy.”
Asked where he is losing time to Bezzecchi, Ogura pointed to high-speed sections.
“He just carries more speed,” Ogura explained. “I think he can turn like me, but with higher speed.
“Thailand is a different type of track, but we will work on it in Thailand.”
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The final pre-season MotoGP test takes place at Buriram on February 21–22, the track where Ogura claimed his best premier-class results so far of 4th (Sprint) and 5th (GP) on his debut a year ago.
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