OGURA TAKES THIRD IN SEPANG BUT STRUGGLES WITH TRACK FEEL

Ai Ogura made a strong start to the Malaysian MotoGP weekend, finishing Friday practice third at Sepang and leading the Aprilia riders. The Trackhouse rider was just 0.167 seconds behind championship leader Marc Marquez, despite Marquez having held a lead of more than four tenths in the damp morning session. By the afternoon, the top 10 were separated by only six tenths.

Ogura was pleased with his result, but not with how the bike felt. “The positive thing today was definitely the lap time and the position,” he said. “The negative was everything else.” He described a vague sensation through almost every corner, saying the track felt greasy and the tyres were not responding properly. The bike, he added, was not moving as he wanted it to.

The Japanese rider said the surface seemed rougher and that the slippery feeling often experienced after rain had persisted into the afternoon. He also reported little difference between the Aprilia’s old and new aerodynamic packages.

Ogura is competing without Trackhouse teammate Raul Fernandez in Malaysia. Fernandez, who has an injured right hand, withdrew after only a few laps of FP1. Ogura is currently four points behind Pedro Acosta in the championship standings.