Trackhouse team principal Davide Brivio admits it’s \u201ca bit disappointing\u201d to lose Ai Ogura next season, while revealing that they are seeking an experienced replacement for 2027.<\/p>\n
Brivio signed Ogura <\/a>early in his Moto2 title-winning season, with the Japanese repaying the team\u2019s faith with a head-turning top Aprilia debut at Buriram last year.<\/p>\n Injuries interrupted Ogura\u2019s progress, but he again started strongly in Thailand this year, remained in the top five in Brazil, and was on course for a debut podium at COTA before an engine issue halted his charge.<\/p>\n Just days later, news broke that Ogura is set to join the factory Yamaha team for 2027.<\/p>\n “It’s a bit disappointing, but everyone makes their own decisions,\u201d Brivio told Sky Italia during FP1 at Jerez.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we signed him, we took into account the possibility that after two years, he might want a factory team.<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s part of the deal. Now we’ll try to find a solution.”<\/p>\n A wide range of names have been linked with taking over Ogura\u2019s seat, ranging from HRC\u2019s Joan Mir<\/a> to WorldSBK star Nicolo Bulega<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, Brivio indicated the team is looking for experience rather than another rookie, which would rule out the likes of Bulega plus Moto2 title contenders Manuel Gonzalez and Senna Agius.<\/p>\n “I don’t think it’s the right time to invest in a rookie right now; we think having experienced riders will allow us to better exploit the bike’s potential,” Brivio said.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Mir, who won the world championship for Brivio at Suzuki, is among those who would fit the ‘experienced’ profile.<\/p>\n Alex Rins – losing his Yamaha seat to Ogura – and Tech3\u2019s Maverick Vinales are also former Brivio\/Suzuki riders and proven race winners.<\/p>\n Should Aprilia favour an experienced Italian, the likes of Fabio di Giannantonio, Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini would fit the bill.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Ogura\u2019s departure is thought to have strengthened team-mate Raul Fernandez\u2019s chances of a new deal.<\/p>\n Fernandez – who took Trackhouse\u2019s first win at Phillip Island last year, then kicked off this season with a double podium in Thailand – is currently fifth in the world championship, one place ahead of Ogura.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Subscribe to our MotoGP Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trackhouse team principal Davide Brivio admits it’s \u201ca bit disappointing\u201d to lose Ai Ogura next season, while revealing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[89838,34422,10669,64,63,9398,10671,806,805,803,804,6909,85,113427],"class_list":{"0":"post-628085","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-89838","9":"tag-ai-ogura","10":"tag-aprilia-racing","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-joan-mir","14":"tag-monster-energy-yamaha-motogp","15":"tag-motor","16":"tag-motor-sports","17":"tag-motosport","18":"tag-motosports","19":"tag-nicolo-bulega","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-trackhouse-motogp-team"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}