Japanese MotoGP Hopeful Ai Ogura Announces Switch from Honda to Trackhouse Aprilia for 2025

Ai Ogura has revealed an interesting reason for departing from Honda in his pursuit of a MotoGP position. He has committed to joining Trackhouse Aprilia and will be parting ways with Honda at the conclusion of 2024.

Just ahead of the Austrian MotoGP on Thursday, it was revealed that Ai Ogura will join the Trackhouse Aprilia team for the 2025 season. This announcement signifies that the Japanese rider will depart from Honda at the conclusion of this season.

During the pre-event press conference in Austria, Ogura, who is currently a rider for the MT Helmets MSI team in the Moto2 category, shared his excitement about advancing to the premier class next year.

"It's an incredible sensation," he expressed. "I'm thrilled to have finally reached this stage [in MotoGP]. MotoGP is the pinnacle, there's nothing beyond it, so I'm truly excited to have taken this final step. Now, I eagerly anticipate discovering what I can achieve there."

The Aprilia motorcycle has established itself as one of the top three contenders in MotoGP for the past two and a half years. Meanwhile, the Trackhouse team has also shown strong performance in its debut year, highlighted by Miguel Oliveira’s podium finish in the Sprint race in Germany.

Ogura stayed quiet when questioned about his potential performance in MotoGP with the Trackhouse team.

Regarding MotoGP, he mentioned that he's not fully aware of certain aspects. However, he observed that both the team and the bike appear to be highly competitive. He believes he's in the right place for the upcoming year.

In addition to being one of the few Japanese riders to compete in MotoGP for a non-Japanese team, Ogura is also set to be the first racer to progress to MotoGP after participating in the Asia Talent Cup (ATC), the initial iteration of Dorna’s Talent Cups, when he debuts next year.

"This is incredible," Ogura exclaimed. "My journey began with the Asia Talent Cup, and I'm still collaborating with some of the people from that initiative. I can't express enough gratitude to everyone involved in the project. I'm thrilled to have become a MotoGP rider after participating in those Cup races."

Ogura’s journey to MotoGP started on the Road to MotoGP within the Asia Talent Cup (ATC), establishing clear connections with Honda along the way. He transitioned to the Moto3 Junior World Championship (currently known as JuniorGP) in 2016 with the Asia Talent Team. Ogura then raced for Honda Team Asia throughout his entire Grand Prix career until this year when he joined the MT Helmets MSI team.

To this day, he still sports the HRC emblem on the left shoulder of his racing suit.

When questioned about his feelings on entering MotoGP with a team other than Honda, given his upbringing within the Tokyo-based company's system, Ogura expressed his discontent, stating, "Naturally, I'm not very pleased about this."

"If I have the opportunity to advance to MotoGP with Honda, it would definitely be ideal. However, I also need to consider my future and current circumstances, so that's why I've made this choice."

The 23-year-old was questioned if his choice was influenced by the Honda RC213V's performance, which has not achieved a top 10 finish in 2024, in comparison to the Aprilia RS-GP. He responded with a straightforward: "Yes."

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