Trackhouse still in the spotlight: Ogura nearly on the podium
After Raul Fernandez’s triumph in Saturday’s Sprint, the Trackhouse team enjoyed more satisfaction, coming close to the podium thanks to Ai Ogura. The Japanese rider put on a show at Mugello: after an exceptional start from P13 that immediately brought him close to the top ten, he continued to gain positions during the race by exploiting the pace of his Aprilia; having overtaken Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta, and Fermin Aldeguer, #79 targeted Francesco Bagnaia, attacking him at Bucine on the last lap. An overly optimistic attempt, as it forced him wide, and “Pecco” prevailed in the trajectory crossover.
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Ogura’s words
“First of all, I am very happy with how the race started. This time I had a good start and also managed the first corners very well. Afterwards, my pace was much faster than that of the riders around me, especially in the last part“, this is Ogura’s comment. “The move on the last lap was just an attempt for third place. Finishing a race like this just behind ‘Pecco‘ wouldn’t have been ideal, so I tried and it didn’t work out, but that’s okay. The top three used their tires to create a gap at the start and I didn’t, so in the end I still had something left to recover. There are many positive aspects to take from this Sunday and much to learn from Friday and Saturday“.
Fernandez’s words
If Ogura can be happy with his Italian GP, the same cannot be said for Fernandez. The Spaniard is kicking himself for the mistake in turn 1 that dropped him from second to 18th position. A real shame, because with the pace shown in the race (which allowed him to climb back up to P8, then P9 due to a penalty) he could have aimed for the podium.
“I’m sorry, but we can’t go back in time and can only learn from what happened. The braking reference point in the corner was the same as yesterday and I braked, but, for some reason, I couldn’t shift down to second, so I stayed in third and went wide“, this is the Spaniard’s disappointment. “I don’t know why, we still have to analyze what happened: I feel very sorry for the team and for Aprilia. This weekend we had the pace to fight for the podium and we lost an important opportunity, which is disappointing and made the race difficult. Apart from that, we have to take the positives and try to get back to our best level in Hungary“.
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