– Ai Ogura is the big absentee this race weekend at MotorLand Aragon. The third in the world championship injured his left thumb during motocross training in Japan.
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Meanwhile, the Trackhouse-Aprilia team rider has returned to Europe. On Thursday morning he was operated on in Barcelona by Doctor Xavier Mir. Team boss Davide Brivio gave an update on his rider at MotoGP.com.
“Unfortunately, he had a very minor crash while motocross riding in Japan. He broke his left hand, the first metacarpal bone of the left thumb,” says Brivio, noting that it was originally planned for Ogura to race in Aragon.
“At first, it looked like he could be fine in a few weeks, so he traveled from Japan to Spain with the intention of coming to Aragon. Then he had an appointment with Doctor Mir in Barcelona.”
“And there they basically determined that he needs surgery to speed up recovery. So that happened this morning, and now we will of course see.”
72 hours after the operation, Ogura has a follow-up appointment. He will initially stay in Barcelona to begin rehabilitation. The Trackhouse team hopes he can race again at the next race in Misano.
The MotoGP visits the Adriatic coast from September 11 to 13. At the current time, however, it is not certain whether Ogura can be back on the grid in two weeks.
“Of course, I am not a doctor,” says Brivio, “but experience, looking at other riders, usually shows that they could race again after a few weeks, but it varies from case to case.”
“So it is too early to say, but the goal is to have him ready by Misano. Let’s see how things develop in the coming week.”
Brivio does not think about the championship chances
Before the race weekend in Aragon, Ogura is third in the world championship. The injury break is a setback for his championship ambitions. “Yes, of course it is disappointing,” sighs Brivio, “it is sad because we had good momentum.”
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“I mean, generally as a team, Ai and also Raul had good momentum, and it is a shame and sad to break that momentum. Regarding the championship, we of course know that we will lose points.”
“But that is okay, we don’t think too much about it. Honestly, unfortunately all the top 4 or top 5 riders this year had some problems here and there, so that is part of the game.”
Ogura has only a three-point lead over Marc Marquez (Ducati) and four over Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati) in the world championship. Teammate Raul Fernandez is 19 points behind. Ogura could fall back to sixth place.
The competition wishes him a speedy recovery. “We wish him the best,” says Marc Marquez. “He is strong and fast, so he will come back soon with the same speed.”
Jorge Martin agrees: “I hope he feels good after the operation and that he comes back soon. We always want the strongest riders on the track. I hope he recovers well.”
In Aragon, Ogura will be replaced by Lorenzo Savadori. The Aprilia test rider has not ridden the 1,000cc bike since his wildcard appearance in Jerez at the end of April. Since then, he has worked exclusively with the new 850cc prototype for 2027.
Fernandez therefore does not have Ogura as a reference in the box. “For the races I watched, I tried to understand how he managed the tires in the last part of the race,” says the Spaniard.
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“So I don’t have the data here to understand that, but anyway, I think I still have good information at Aprilia. We have to exploit the maximum potential of the motorcycle.”
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