Ai Ogura

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. He moved up to compete in Moto3 full-time in 2019, at Honda Team Asia, where he established himself as a regular front runner and even took a debut podium in Aragon.

In 2020 Ogura enjoyed a solid year taking seven podiums across the season, with two second place finishes and five third places, he was also a strong title contender and finished third overall. For the 2021 season the 20-year-old steps up to the Moto2 class with Idemitsu Honda Team Asia.

In 2021, when he moved up to the Moto2, he finished eighth overall, and really embarked upon his championship fight in 2022. Taking three wins and seven podiums, he took turns at leading the title chase during the season and took the fight for the crown right down to the last race of the year.