Japan on the rise
Liberty Media can rejoice, as it quite openly wants to reduce the Italian-Spanish monopoly in MotoGP to attract more different countries to follow the premier class of the Motorcycle World Championship. In this perspective, the extraordinary first career podium in the top class by Ai Ogura, who completed the Aprilia triple in the French GP and brought the American Trackhouse team back into the top 3, fits perfectly.
The race of the 2024 Moto2 world champion was textbook: measured and intelligent at the start, bold and determined at the end, when a furious comeback almost seemed to bring him to challenge Marco Bezzecchi’s second place. “I’m definitely super happy – Ogura commented to Sky Sport MotoGP – this is my first MotoGP podium and so I am happy“.
Winning is possible
However, the talented Japanese rider does not hold back his ambition and, when asked about the possibility of battling on equal terms with the ‘factory’ riders Martin and Bezzecchi, he said he clearly feels ready and able to sustain such a duel and maybe even win it: “If I am fast enough I can do it, definitely. I am sure there is a chance to beat the factory team guys if I am good. It will be difficult, but we keep trying. Weak points? Surely our weak point, the most important for now, is the time attack – Ogura concluded, making a comparison between himself and the official Aprilia team riders – both on Friday afternoon, in qualifying, and also in the first part of the race. It’s true that they (the official riders) are better than us in this regard, but we keep improving and then we’ll see“.
