OGURA FINISHES FOURTH IN QATAR AFTER COSTLY EARLY BATTLES

Ai Ogura came away from the Qatar MotoGP race with fourth place, but the Trackhouse Aprilia rider was not entirely satisfied with how he got there. Starting fifth, he gained a position when Fabio Di Giannantonio made a poor getaway, then had to defend against Johann Zarco. The pair were both passed by KTM riders Pedro Acosta and Enea Bastianini on lap three, leaving Ogura sixth.

Ogura spent much of the race behind Bastianini, with several attempts to pass the Italian coming up short. He finally got through on lap 15, then overtook Acosta two laps later. Acosta was struggling with low front-tyre pressure and repeatedly dropped back during the race. In the closing stages, Ogura chased Marc Marquez and Trackhouse teammate Raul Fernandez, but could not catch them. He finished 4.885 seconds behind winner Marco Bezzecchi.

Reflecting on the early battle with Zarco, Ogura said: “No. I’m not happy.” He explained that he had spent too much of the first part of the race fighting the LCR Honda rider. “I wasn’t fast enough, and he thought that if he didn’t pass me, he would lose a lot of time. So he tried to overtake me. We both had a different approach, so we fought a lot. That wasn’t an ideal situation.”

Ogura was more encouraged by his pace late in the race and his tyre management. “Towards the end my pace was okay. I managed the tyre well,” he said, adding that there were “a few positive things, but more negative ones.”

The Japanese rider had finished seventh in the Qatar sprint and fourth in the Grand Prix. With two rounds remaining, he stood fifth in the championship on 294 points.