{"id":649021,"date":"2026-05-04T12:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/649021\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T12:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:49:08","slug":"aprilia-losing-ogura-disappointing-but-trackhouse-will-make-right-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/649021\/","title":{"rendered":"Aprilia: Losing Ogura \u201cdisappointing\u201d but Trackhouse will make \u201cright choice\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola has admitted it\u2019s \u201cdisappointing\u201d to lose Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura for the 2027 MotoGP season.<\/p>\n<p>Ogura has informed Trackhouse that he will not be extending his contract, with team principal Davide Brivio confirming that the Japanese has been tempted away by a factory team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we signed him, we took into account the possibility that after two years, he might want a factory team,\u201d Brivio said during the Spanish <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/motogp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MotoGP<\/a>. \u201cThat&#8217;s part of the deal. Now we&#8217;ll try to find a solution.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Although Brivio declined to name the rival factory, Ogura is understood to be joining <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/motogp\/teams\/monster-energy-yamaha-motogp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Yamaha<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Any chance of moving to Aprilia\u2019s own factory team was already over, with Francesco Bagnaia tipped to partner the re-signed Marco Bezzecchi.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>Bezzecchi remains the only officially confirmed 2027 factory rider so far, due to a delay in announcements while manufacturers negotiate a new commercial agreement with MotoGP SEG.<\/p>\n<p>Rivola echoed Brivio\u2019s disappointment at losing Ogura, who looked on course for a first MotoGP podium before technical issues struck at COTA, then was the fastest rider on track over the last ten laps at Jerez.<\/p>\n<p>However, Rivola also said the loss of Ogura highlights that Brivio made a good decision by signing him in the first place &#8211; and backs the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/motogp\/teams\/trackhouse-motogp-team\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Trackhouse <\/a>boss to make the \u201cright choice\u201d again for his replacement.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;On the one hand, it&#8217;s disappointing to lose a rider who has proven to be talented, but it&#8217;s also fair to say that the choice was the right one, so Davide Brivio had a far-sighted vision with Ogura,\u201d Rivola told Sky Italia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe talk a lot with Davide, and I already know he&#8217;ll make the right choice for the next rider, so we&#8217;re in great hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>Rivola expects a decision soon on Ogura\u2019s replacement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Trackhouse] haven&#8217;t chosen yet. I think it will be a matter of one race, two at most,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Brivio\u2019s only clue so far has been to effectively rule out another rookie.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s the right time to invest in a rookie right now; we think having experienced riders will allow us to better exploit the bike&#8217;s potential,&#8221; Brivio said.<\/p>\n<p>Brivio\u2019s former Suzuki riders Joan Mir, Maverick Vinales and Alex Rins are among the proven MotoGP race winners still on the market for 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Both Trackhouse seats are up for grabs, but Ogura&#8217;s departure is seen as strengthening the contract chances of teammate and 2025 Australian Grand Prix winner Raul Fernandez.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to our MotoGP Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola has admitted it\u2019s \u201cdisappointing\u201d to lose Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura for the 2027&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[34422,18009,10669,64,63,10671,806,805,803,804,85,113427],"class_list":["post-649021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-ai-ogura","tag-aprilia","tag-aprilia-racing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-monster-energy-yamaha-motogp","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports","tag-trackhouse-motogp-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649021","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=649021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}