An impeccable Sprint Race for the MotoGP rookie, who secured his first six points of the season: the statistic is incredible.
Ai Ogura made an absolutely flawless debut in MotoGP. The Japanese rider, who won the Moto2 title, has exceeded everyone’s expectations, proving right from the start that his spot in the Premier Class is fully deserved.
The Trackhouse Racing rider lived up to this new adventure from the very first free practices, where he set the sixth-fastest time. He achieved the same result in FP2 last night, but what really surprised the fans was his direct qualification to Q2 (which even Pecco Bagnaia failed to achieve).
Ogura confirmed his pace in qualifying as well, posting the fifth-fastest time, which he then converted into an excellent start in the Sprint Race, immediately climbing into fourth position.
Number 79 completed the 13 laps following Pecco Bagnaia’s (3rd) racing line perfectly, and the Italian was pleasantly surprised by the rookie’s performance: “I was impressed by Ogura. He did an incredible performance,” he said to Sky Sport.
It’s true that the Sunday race is yet to be run, but as reported by EffettoGP, since the new era of MotoGP in 2001, only Pedrosa (2nd), Lorenzo (2nd), and Marc Marquez (3rd) have done better than Ogura in their first race in the Premier Class.
Photo: Ai Ogura