Ai Ogura, the promise of Japan
Ai Ogura follows the path of other Japanese riders who have risen from small-scale competitions to the big leagues of motorcycling. He currently competes in Moto2 and sits second in the overall standings with two wins this season. He has shown steady progress in the lower categories of motorcycling.
His performance with the MT Helmets MSI team highlighted him as a promising prospect for the future, attracting the attention of team principal Davide Brivio and owner Justin Marks. Ogura’s addition is part of Marks’ strategy to make Trackhouse Racing an attractive team for young talent and offer them opportunities for success.
His path to the top category
After excelling in the Asia Talent Cup in 2015 and 2016, Ogura continued his career in Europe, where he competed in the Moto3 Junior World Championship and then the Moto3 World Championship, achieving a third place in 2020.
After moving up to Moto2 in 2021, he has continued to show his competitive ability and is now preparing to make his MotoGP debut in 2025 with Trackhouse Racing, a team of newcomers who have decided to fully invest in young talent with the aim of building a good future in the category from the ground up.
The Japanese legacy in MotoGP
In recent years, European riders and manufacturers have enjoyed much of the success in the premier class, but the arrival of Ai Ogura is a timely reminder that Japan has an incredibly rich history in MotoGP, and not just in terms of manufacturers.
Thirteen Japanese stars – 14 when Ai Ogura arrives next season – have arrived in MotoGP having won a GP before, the latest being Tetsuta Nagashima. Nagashima, winner of the 2020 Qatar GP in Moto2, replaced current Japanese premier-class rider Takaaki Nakagami at IDEMITSU Honda LCR for the final four races of the 2022 campaign.
Japanese riders who arrived in MotoGP before Ai Ogura:
- Tetsuya Harada
- Daijiro Kato
- Youichi Ui
- Hiroshi Aoyama
- Shinya Nakano
- Tadayuki Okada
- Tohru Ukawa
- Norick Abe
- Yuki Takahashi
- Makoto Tamada
- Takaaki Nakagami
- Nobuatsu Aoki
- Tetsuta Nagashima
Nakagami himself won two races in the intermediate class before making the step up to the premier class, and the number 30 has been the only full-time Japanese driver on the top-class grid since 2018.
Of the 13 riders mentioned above, two have claimed MotoGP victories: Makoto Tamada and Tohru Ukawa. Tamada took his two wins in 2004 riding Honda’s RC211V in Brazil and Japan, while Ukawa won the second race of the MotoGP era in 2002 at the South African GP, and finished third in the overall standings riding for Repsol Honda.
Ai Ogura’s rise gives Japan another chance to celebrate a MotoGP win, something that has not happened since Tamada’s triumph at his home GP in 2004. Although Ogura is not expected to take a win in 2025, the 23-year-old has shown in Moto3 and Moto2 that he has the talent to challenge for 25 points and the championship titles.
Third in 2020 (Moto3) and second in 2022 (Moto2) have been Ogura’s standout campaigns to date, but the coveted intermediate-class World Championship title is within reach in 2024 after an injury-plagued 2023 season.
There’s no doubt that Trackhouse has signed a rising Japanese star. Now, the US-based team and Ai Ogura will look to show the world what they’re capable of.
- Ai Ogura:
«First of all, I would like to thank everyone who is part of this project and everyone who has supported me. Of course, this is the dream! The last step to take. MotoGP™ is the highest level you can have, so obviously I am very happy to get there. I am very happy to be able to race in the top category and I am looking forward to doing it with the Trackhouse Racing MotoGP™ Team. I see that the team is really competitive and the bike is very strong, and as a rider my job is to do what I can with everything I have. Always with the same mentality, but I am very happy to be part of Trackhouse and to take this step to MotoGP™ with them. I am looking forward to starting in 2025. Now I have to think about the Moto2™ World Championship. I will try to finish this year as well as possible and arrive well prepared for 2025. Thank you all! - Davide Brivio, Team Principal:
«Welcome, Ai. We are delighted to have secured the opportunity to start a new project with Ai, one of the most talented riders in Moto2™. We appreciate his riding style, his endurance during races and we believe that Ai has the potential to become a great MotoGP™ rider. While we work to develop the Trackhouse Team as a MotoGP™ project, we will simultaneously work to give Ai the tools to express his talent and grow as much as possible. I believe that with Raul, as a young but experienced rider, and Ai, as a new rising talent, Trackhouse has secured a strong rider line-up for the future. It is going to be an exciting time ahead, but first and foremost we all want to keep our focus on what we are doing now, our own championship, and try to finish with the best possible result before we begin our journey together.«.
«Thank you Miguel. We have only been together for a short time, but we have been able to see and appreciate Miguel’s talent, experience and work attitude within the team. It is a shame that we have to make the decision to part ways at the end of the year, but as we have not yet exploited Miguel’s potential with this Aprilia, it is really too early to say ‘thank you’ now. With so many more races giving us the opportunity to try and get good results, we just want to put our heads down, try to finish this season together on a high and then we can, hopefully, take our time to celebrate the success and this time we have spent together and say ‘thank you, Miguel’. But that will come later…«.
- Justin Marks, Team Owner:
«We are delighted to welcome a very promising young talent in Ai Ogura to the house. He has demonstrated his preparation and commitment to winning in Moto2™ and is ready to make the step up to the MotoGP™ class. We look forward to working with him and supporting him in his learning of the Aprilia bike and the incredible competition at the highest level of international motorcycling. Trackhouse Racing MotoGP™ was created to serve as a global expansion initiative for the Trackhouse brand. It is really exciting that we now have a roster of athletes on our teams representing Mexico, USA, Spain, New Zealand and now Japan.«»TRackhouse deeply values the work and effort that Miguel has put in this year, our first in MotoGP™. His willingness to work with the new owners and get the most out of the Aprilia RS-GP24 this season has been a tremendous help in Trackhouse establishing itself in the championship. We wish him all the best in 2025 and beyond, and look forward to continued success through to the end of the 2024 season.«.
