Trackhouse team principal Davide Brivio belives Ai Ogura must learn when to push and when to focus on tyre management in his pursuit of the 2026 MotoGP title.
Ogura has been one of the revelations of the season, emerging as one of Aprilia’s primary championship challengers alongside factory riders Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi.
With 10 rounds remaining, he sits in third place in the standings, 37 points off championship leader Martin.
The Japanese rider had been one of the most consistent competitors on the grid, but made his first major mistake of the year at the British Grand Prix after qualifying on the front row.
The slide-off midway through the race cost him a lot of points to Martin, who finished second, but also to Bezzecchi, who moved back ahead of him in the standings.
What could really hold Ogura back in the chase for what would be a sensational title for him and Trackhouse, however, is the ability to understand when to stop managing his tyres and switch to attack mode.
“In the early stages of the race, I wanted to make sure the tyres were okay and that they would last for the final five laps. But perhaps I was too conservative. The way I approached the race was wrong, this time,” Ogura admitted at the end of the race.
Brivio was of the same opinion. In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, the Trackhouse team principal spoke precisely about this aspect.
Ai Ogura, Trackhouse Racing
Foto di: Glyn Kirk / AFP via Getty Images
“Ogura is very good at managing the tyres and we saw that last year as well, even if perhaps it wasn’t noticed much because he often wasn’t fighting for important positions. But he was always quick in the final laps of the race,” he said.
“Even at the start of this year, in the last seven, eight or 10 laps, he always has the pace of the top four. Then, maybe, sometimes he’s 12th and he’s far from the positions that matter and it goes unnoticed if you don’t study the lap times carefully.
“Although, I have to say, the insiders often do that very well. So it has always been a characteristic of his to manage things at the start of the race and spend the energy saved at the end of the race.”
Coming into this season, qualifying was seen as Ogura’s biggest weakness, with the 25-year-old often starting too far down the order to take advantage of his race pace.
But starting with the Czech Grand Prix in June, Ogura learned to put together a clean lap in qualifying, allowing him to score his maiden grand prix a week later at Assen.
Since then, he has regularly qualified at the front of the grid, leaving just one chink in his armour: tyre management.
“There have been occasions when he probably started this process too late, in the sense that he could have attacked a little earlier. But he is gaining experience on this as well, he is understanding,” Brivio said.
“For example, if we take the Brno and Assen races, he managed things a bit. Then saying whether he managed too much or was good at managing in that way is quite difficult, but these aspects can also be refined. How much there is to manage, to attack… He is also very good at learning, gathering information and then using it.
“He is in a phase of studying and learning. And, as I always say, you never stop learning. Even in 10 years there will be things to learn. But he is very good at this.”
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