Ai Ogura 79
Ai Ogura began racing in the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup in 2015, coming seventh overall and taking his first win and podiums before 2016 saw the young Japanese rider take another step forward as he ended the season as runner-up in the Cup - with three more wins and more podiums.
2016 also saw Ogura racing in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and there he took his first podium, but 2017 saw a big step forward. He continued racing in the Rookies, taking two wins, five podiums and two poles, and he moved also into the FIM CEV Repsol Moto3 Junior World Championship. In the CEV he took his first win in Jerez and set himself up for an assault further forward in 2018. Some DNFs dented his overall charge in 2018 but he was in the top five overall, took another win and numerous podiums. Ogura also made his wildcard debut in the Moto3 World Championship and scored his first Grand Prix point. 2019 marked his arrival full time with Honda Team Asia. Surprisingly consistent, he even made it to the podium in Aragón to finish tenth. And in 2020, the native of Tokyo registered no less than seven rostrums: more than any of his competitors! But in the end, his title challenge ran out of steam, leaving Albert Arenas and Tony Arbolino ahead of him in the overall standings. 2021 saw him promoted to the Moto2 side of Honda Team Asia and it was a hugely impressive rookie season from the Japanese rider. After a series of near misses, Ogura finally stood on the podium at the Austrian GP which helped him secure 8th place in the Championship overall. 2022 saw him come to the fore of the title fight, with three victories and four further podiums seeing him lead the Championship with two rounds to go. However, a pair of unfortunate crashes in the final two races saw him cough up the Championship to Augusto Fernandez. The Japanese rider would have a challenging 2023 season with only three podiums to his name and a ninth-place finish in the World Championship.
Ai Ogura will compete in the Moto2 class in the 2024 season with the MT Helmets - MSI team and HRC will continue to support him.