![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776909012_441_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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One is a maiden MotoGP podium, which \u2013 were it not for cruel luck \u2013 he\u2019d already have. <\/p>\n
And two is a factory contract for Yamaha, which Ogura has in his keeping, but is yet to be announced as the negotiations between the MSMA \u2013 the collective representing MotoGP\u2019s five manufacturers \u2013 and MSEG, the sport\u2019s promoters, to run the series from 2027 onwards remain in a holding pattern over the distribution of revenue<\/a>.<\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n NEWS WRAP<\/a> Aussie\u2019s frustration as Yamaha flounders, why champ wasn\u2019t penalised after \u2018lucky\u2019 crash<\/p>\n \u2018ALL COMING TOGETHER\u2019 <\/a> Moto2 omen that opens possibilities for Aussie young gun<\/p>\n Based on the evidence of four rounds of 2026 to date, the former is a matter of time. <\/p>\n The latter is a consequence of the pace that has seen Yamaha step in to steal a prized asset away from Aprilia, a signature that sticks the knife in further to Honda, which was part of Ogura\u2019s past right until he was on the cusp of a MotoGP graduation two years ago. <\/p>\n Over four rounds from Thailand to Brazil to Texas to Jerez, Aprilia\u2019s RS-GP machine has consistently become MotoGP\u2019s weapon of choice, Italian Marco Bezzecchi using it to build an impressive championship lead<\/a>. <\/p>\n The other constant? Ogura\u2019s late-race pace, where the 25-year-old has routinely become MotoGP\u2019s man to watch as the lap counter winds down. <\/p>\n Calling Ogura\u2019s calling card a finishing kick is to undersell it. <\/p>\n Marc Marquez goes off in a HUGE crash | 00:39<\/p>\n THE LATE-RACE TRICK OGURA\u2019S RIVALS CAN\u2019T MATCH<\/p>\n Rewind to the most recent Grand Prix at Jerez, and an analysis of Ogura\u2019s lap times once the bikes become lighter on fuel and lose feel with wearing tyres paints a formidable, yet familiar, picture. <\/p>\n From 11th on the grid, Ogura advanced to eighth at the halfway mark of the 25-lap race, 8.6secs behind leader Alex Marquez (Ducati)<\/a>. In the second half, nobody \u2013 not Marquez, nor series leader Bezzecchi \u2013 was faster over the last 10 laps. <\/p>\n PIT TALK PODCAST: Renita and Matt break down Alex Marquez\u2019s second successive win at Jerez, examine another big crash for Marc Marquez, and look at what Senna Agius\u2019 back-to-back Moto2 wins could mean for his MotoGP future. Listen to Pit Talk now<\/a>.<\/p>\n Three seconds behind Trackhouse Aprilia teammate Raul Fernandez and four seconds behind Honda\u2019s Johann Zarco with 10 laps left, and with everyone hanging on battling fading tyres and fatigue, Ogura unleashed, passing both rivals to advance to a fifth-place finish for the third time in four Grands Prix. <\/p>\n Bezzecchi\u2019s factory Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin \u2013 the 2024 MotoGP champion on an identical bike \u2013 was 4.5secs to the good of Ogura at the halfway mark, and finished one place and only six-tenths of a second ahead in fourth when the chequered flag dropped. <\/p>\n Across the season, Ogura has a net gain of 10 places from where he starts Grands Prix to where he finishes them, all achieved in the second halves of races. As the tyre grip fades and the bike begins to move around more, Ogura quickly finds the new limit lap by lap, adjusts his style, and dances as close to the edge of adhesion as he dares, and without overstepping it. <\/p>\n \u201cWe can be super, super, happy about the late race pace,\u201d Ogura, famously hard on himself in his post-race debriefs, said in Spain. <\/p>\n \u201cFrom the start until the mid-part of the race, we struggled quite a lot. I lost so much time on [KTM\u2019s Enea] Bastianini but, after the feeling was there, I started to catch the riders in front of me.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to improve the first part \u2013 it seems when everybody has good tyre performance they can use this extra advantage, but I\u2019m struggling with that. I need to understand why, but at the same time it\u2019s good in the second part of the race when everybody struggles and I\u2019m not struggling so much.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially the last four or five laps, I could see everyone struggling, even in [corner] entry. In turn eight, I had so much grip compared to the others. P5 is \u2026 OK.\u201d<\/p>\n Just \u2018OK\u2019 is an understatement. It\u2019s also becoming expected of a rider just 22 Grands Prix into his MotoGP career. <\/p>\n In Thailand\u2019s season-opener, Ogura started eighth, was 11th on lap 13 of 26, then surged to fifth by the chequered flag, losing just three seconds to race-winner Bezzecchi in the second half of the race even as he was fighting through the pack. <\/p>\n In Brazil, Ogura \u2013 seventh and 5.5secs adrift of leader Bezzecchi at the halfway stage, again jumped to fifth by the flag, Bezzecchi \u2013 with clear track ahead of him \u2013 just three seconds faster over the final 11 laps. <\/p>\n And then came Texas, where Ogura ran his race in typical style until fate left the usually stoic Japanese in tears. <\/p>\n Ogura was electrifying in the final 10 laps at Jerez, surging to another top-five finish. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n ANGUISH IN AUSTIN AS PODIUM SQUANDERED<\/p>\n Ogura wasn\u2019t going to win the third Grand Prix of the year at the Circuit of the Americas. But for the second half of the race, he was faster than the rider who did \u2013 Bezzecchi again \u2013 and on track for his big breakthrough. <\/p>\n From 10th on the grid for the 20-lap race, Ogura bided his time, then uncoiled like a cobra. He set the fastest lap of the race on lap nine, then gained 1.4secs over Bezzecchi in four laps as he scythed past rider after rider to climb to fourth. \u201cHe passed me and I kept pushing for three corners, but when I looked again, I didn\u2019t see him anymore,\u201d Alex Marquez marvelled. <\/p>\n Then, disaster. <\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n RACE REPORT<\/a> Spaniard goes back-to-back at home after champion\u2019s high-speed spill<\/p>\n TALKING POINTS<\/a> Marquez\u2019s \u2018magic\u2019 touch, brake woes behind Miller \u2018nightmare\u2019<\/p>\n Ogura\u2019s engine software erroneously noted a problem, and immediately put his bike into \u2018protection mode\u2019, Ogura forced to limp back to the pits and retire<\/a>. <\/p>\n Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola was gutted \u2013 \u201cit made my blood run cold,\u201d the Italian said \u2013 and Ogura, usually a constant of a calm on a grid of mostly high emotion elsewhere, sat silently and wept. <\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of sector one I started to see a [dashboard] warning, and after that the bike wasn\u2019t really going anymore,\u201d he said, the words trailing off as he looked for a silver lining. <\/p>\n \u201cOur pace would have been enough to get a podium finish. I was making so much time in the braking, in general grip was less compared to yesterday [in the sprint race] so for me that helps a lot. The bike gave me a lot of confidence. That was probably the first time I matched the pace with the rider who won the race, so the best performance so far.\u201d <\/p>\n Trackhouse Aprilia team principal Davide Brivio, who led the push behind the scenes in 2024 to bring Ogura to MotoGP, was keen to focus on the future. <\/p>\n \u201cAi was doing a fantastic race … he did the fastest lap of the race, was recovering from P10 at the start and I think we could have gotten onto the podium \u2026 it was there,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cThere was a problem on the engine and the bike stopped \u2026 we are so disappointed. Everything was going to be perfect. The race was fantastic, Ai was very fast and I feel the good days are coming.\u201d<\/p>\n Ogura\u2019s late-race pace has the Japanese sophomore in contention for podiums, and soon. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n OGURA\u2019S BIG RISK AS YAMAHA POUNCES<\/p>\n It seems inevitable after the leap that Ogura has made this season that better days than Austin are on their way, and fast. <\/p>\n But to Aprilia\u2019s and no doubt Brivio\u2019s chagrin, they\u2019ll be happening elsewhere. <\/p>\n With MotoGP on a four-week break between Texas and Jerez after the Qatar Grand Prix was rescheduled to November<\/a> because of the ongoing instability in the Middle East, Ogura\u2019s name became the latest in the silly season of rider movements that have been agreed but not announced when news emerged that he\u2019d be moving to Yamaha for 2027<\/a> as a factory teammate to Martin, the all-new line-up replacing the Honda-bound Fabio Quartararo and the Frenchman\u2019s teammate Alex Rins.<\/p>\n It was news that was believed to be more correlation than causation after his Austin DNF, and a surprise that, in some ways, is in keeping with Ogura\u2019s atypical past. <\/p>\n Backed by Honda from his earliest days on the ladder to the world championship, Ogura was earmarked for MotoGP promotion with Honda as far back as 2022, after he\u2019d finished runner-up in the Moto2 class, but elected to stay in the intermediate category instead. Winning the Moto2 title with three victories and eight podiums in 2024 made a graduation a given, but he elected to sign for Aprilia and work with Brivio, a renowned talent-spotter who gave race-winners Maverick Vinales, Rins and 2020 world champion Joan Mir their MotoGP debuts when he was in charge at Suzuki, instead. <\/p>\n Asked at his introductory press conference at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix if his rejection of Honda was based on the underperforming Honda RC213V, which had struggled through Marc Marquez\u2019s repeated injury-enforced absences from 2020-24, Ogura simply said \u201cyes\u201d, and moved on. No more words were required.<\/p>\n Ogura will trade his Aprilia RS-GP for a Yamaha YZR machine for the first season of MotoGP’s 2027 regulation revolution (Trackhouse Racing Media)Source: Supplied<\/p>\n Now, nearly two years later, Ogura\u2019s career path has taken an unexpected turn with the news he\u2019ll trade in MotoGP\u2019s current best bike for its worst, Yamaha struggling mightily as it debuts its all-new V4-engined 1000cc YZR machine this season ahead of MotoGP\u2019s regulatory change to 850cc machinery from 2027. <\/p>\n Dig beneath the apparent madness of such a big call, and you\u2019ll find a method to it. <\/p>\n Yamaha, for so many years a title contender with its former inline-four engine and most recently world champion with Quartararo in 2021, is leaving no stone unturned as it pins everything on the 2027 regulation reboot to bridge the chasm that has emerged with the European factories, Ducati and Aprilia in particular, since 2022. <\/p>\n The allure of employing a Japanese rider on a Japanese bike should that reboot bear fruit was too good of an opportunity for Ogura and Yamaha alike. As teammate to Martin, Ogura gives Yamaha an established, in age if not in MotoGP tenure, counter to the more emotional, fiery, injury-prone Martin. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a bit disappointing, but everyone makes their own decisions,\u201d Brivio told Sky Italia at Jerez, a race weekend where Ogura batted off one enquiry after another that asked him to confirm his Yamaha deal. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen we signed him, we took into account the possibility that after two years, he might want a factory team. That\u2019s part of the deal. Now we\u2019ll try to find a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time Ogura first throws his leg over a Yamaha in November\u2019s all-important post-season test at Valencia, it\u2019s likely he\u2019ll be a MotoGP podium finisher \u2013 plural \u2013 based on how rapid he\u2019s already been this year. <\/p>\n Aprilia has set itself as the bike to beat in 2026, and while it\u2019s easy to plot a path for Bezzecchi to win the world championship \u2013 and perhaps nearest rival Martin, if you squint hard enough \u2013 that appears a bridge too far for Ogura, who has only managed to qualify inside the top six once all season.<\/p>\n But a victory? It\u2019s in play. Ogura\u2019s late-race pace \u2013 first a curiosity, now a constant \u2013 makes that entirely plausible.<\/p>\n If he ever gets qualifying right and the opening laps more under his control, there\u2019s mounting evidence to suggest we know what happens next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The longer the race, the better MotoGP second-year rising star Ai Ogura gets. So much better, in fact,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[2620,8454,314670,2095,1724,64,14017,63,314671,314675,11308,314673,40621,49522,306817,46233,314666,2057,152535,294612,146915,314672,2105,841,14211,177555,16200,314668,146921,214303,223180,254333,294618,9398,5744,314667,106466,94264,16201,4280,101322,16268,40801,806,805,803,804,262583,2041,2067,2119,314665,314664,122761,21786,13147,37214,290269,314674,22295,24571,11298,2812,3595,2020,314663,85,22764,13773,3370,3725,23055,294593,314669,300929,2614,2753,2086,3561,9020],"class_list":["post-650451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-alex-marquez","tag-all-important-post-season-test","tag-america","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-austin","tag-australia","tag-bear-fruit","tag-blood-run-cold","tag-brazil","tag-calling-card","tag-career-path","tag-chequered-flag","tag-crashes-outmotorsport","tag-davide-brivio","tag-engine-software","tag-europe","tag-european-factories","tag-factory-contract","tag-factory-teammate","tag-finishing-kick","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-grand-prix","tag-grands-prix","tag-home-grand-prix","tag-honda-motor-company","tag-impressive-championship-lead","tag-inline-four-engine","tag-introductory-press-conference","tag-japanese-giant","tag-japanese-rider","tag-japanese-sophomore","tag-joan-mir","tag-jorge-martin","tag-lap-counter-winds","tag-lap-times","tag-late-race-pace","tag-ltd","tag-marc-marquez","tag-massimo-rivola","tag-matt-clayton","tag-maverick-vinales","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-news-wrap","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-pit-talk","tag-podium-finisher","tag-protection-mode","tag-race-report","tag-race-weekend","tag-raul-fernandez","tag-rider-market","tag-rider-movements","tag-second-half-star","tag-series-leader","tag-silver-lining","tag-south-america","tag-south-eastern-asia","tag-southern-europe","tag-spain","tag-spectacular-late-race-pace","tag-sports","tag-sprint-race","tag-team-principal","tag-texas","tag-thailand","tag-title-contender","tag-top-five-finish","tag-tyre-grip","tag-tyre-performance","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-world-champion","tag-world-championship","tag-yamaha","tag-young-gun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650451","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=650451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}