Ogura explains Silverstone crash: “Pushed at the wrong place”

– Ai Ogura leaves Silverstone with mixed feelings. The Trackhouse-Aprilia rider initially had a strong starting position at the British Grand Prix: starting from the front row, plus second place in the sprint.

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In the main race, however, a poor start cost him positions and later a driving error cost him a possible top result. Ogura himself took responsibility for it without excuses: “It was just a small mistake.”

“I had a bit more lean angle at the same braking pressure, which caused the front wheel to lock and I crashed. It’s a shame that such a mistake happened to me,” he explains his fall. The retirement is especially bitter for Ogura because after the summer break he had again presented himself as one of the fastest riders in the field.

Already on Saturday he had reached the sprint podium as second behind Jorge Martin. In qualifying, he had become third behind the two Aprilia teammates Martin and Raul Fernandez and thus started the Grand Prix from the front row.

Ride-height system causes difficult start

However, not everything went according to plan in the first corner. Both Ogura and polesitter Jorge Martin had problems with the rear ride-height system. Both could not release the lowering at the start as intended, which caused them to fall behind in corner 1 and lose positions.

“Yes, we both had the same problem. The rear device was not unlocked and we were both at the same spot on the track,” Ogura describes. Both he and Martin had not braked hard enough to deactivate the system. “I feel that I could have done it much better.”

The devices have been an important part of the start in MotoGP for years. By lowering the motorcycle, the center of gravity is reduced, which prevents wheelies and improves acceleration. Especially at the start, this can have a significant impact on the first meters.

But for Ogura this time it proved to be a brake block. “I adapted to Raul and Jorge and forgot to brake hard enough to unlock the rear system,” he explains. “I lost a few positions, but it was nothing scary. I just couldn’t lean in as usual.”

Ogura fell back to fifth place and then had to try to work his way forward again. However, this proved to be more difficult for the Japanese than hoped.

“Not fast enough” and then the crash

“After the bad start, I tried to regain my positions, but it was quite difficult. At that time, I was simply not fast enough and pushed at the wrong place, at the wrong moment.”

Although he found his rhythm again during the race, the comeback ultimately ended in a crash. For Ogura, the nature of the mistake was particularly annoying. He did not feel that he was fundamentally riding beyond the limit, but was simply a bit too aggressive at the wrong place.

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For the 25-year-old, it was also an unusual experience in an otherwise very consistent season. The crash in Silverstone was his first race crash this year.

Even before the summer break, Ogura had developed into a serious championship contender and even celebrated his first MotoGP victory. In Assen, he prevailed against his Trackhouse teammate Raul Fernandez and thus became the first Japanese MotoGP winner since Makoto Tamada in 2004.

Ogura acknowledges: Fernandez was “really strong”

On Sunday in Silverstone, it was Fernandez who triumphed again. The Spaniard won the Grand Prix convincingly and thus took his second MotoGP victory. That his teammate was the benchmark came as no surprise to Ogura.

In Silverstone, Fernandez made the decisive step, the Japanese rider acknowledges without envy: “This time Raul was really strong. When I saw his data after the warm-up, I could definitely tell it was his day.”

MotoGP: British Grand Prix (Silverstone) 2026

Overall, Ogura sees the balance of power in the field as quite balanced: “I feel that we are all very, very close together.” On one weekend, two riders are particularly strong, the next weekend two others. The performance level fluctuates, but overall the field is “very balanced.”

Ogura himself had therefore set a much more conservative goal for the race. “My goal was about third or fourth place,” he explains. “No, I was not good enough.”

Positive from Silverstone, but also a lesson

For the title fight, the retirement was still a setback. Before Silverstone, Ogura was second in the world championship with 194 points, only 14 points behind Martin. Due to his zero in the Grand Prix, this deficit has now grown to 37 points. Martin now leads ahead of Marco Bezzecchi, Ogura is in third place.

Despite the disappointing Sunday, Ogura does not want to rate the weekend fundamentally negatively. Front row and sprint podium confirmed that the speed is there. At the same time, the Japanese recognized that especially the approach to a long main race still offers room for improvement.

“The weekend was good, I think,” sums up the Trackhouse-Aprilia rider. Nevertheless, he was not satisfied with himself. “I am not really happy with myself because my approach to the main race was not right. I have to learn a lot from this weekend again. So let’s keep going.”

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