Ogura arrives
The unexpected market move arrives on a quiet Saturday without races, with still a couple of weeks to go before the resumption of track action following the postponement of the Qatar GP to the end of the season. Providing the preview once again was the Spanish edition of Motorsport.com: according to what was written by journalist Oriol Puigdemont next year Ai Ogura will leave the Trackhouse team, an Aprilia customer, to join Yamaha, in the factory team, alongside Jorge Martin.
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This is a surprise move by the Iwata-based manufacturer, which comes shortly after the sensational revelation of how Fabio Quartararo allegedly derailed Francesco Bagnaia’s arrival at the house of the three tuning forks.
Honda ‘betrayed’
The two factory Yamaha 2027 riders will therefore both come from Aprilia: one from the official team, Martin, and the other from the customer team. For Ogura, this is certainly an important change of status given that for the first time since joining MotoGP he will have the weight of a factory team on his shoulders, moreover at the start of a new regulatory cycle and after extremely difficult and disappointing years like those experienced by Yamaha. Adding further spice to this market rumor [which is, however, essentially taken for granted] is the fact that the 2024 Moto2 world champion grew up as a Honda rider.
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In fact, for his first six seasons in the World Championship – from 2018 to 2023 inclusive – Ogura wore the colors of Honda Team Asia, before winning the world title in the intermediate class with MT Helmets – MSi. Now, however, he will move to the other side of the barricade, trying to bring Yamaha back to the top.
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