Shock tipped for first MotoGP qualifying of 2025
“There are people in the Trackhouse squad thinking they could have a great year"
A surprise entrant to Q2 in the first MotoGP qualifying session of 2025 has been predicted.
New Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura has been tipped to go well in his first premier class race.
Moto2 champion Ogura is entering his rookie season in MotoGP, which begins in Thailand next week.
“He’s going to be a huge fan favourite. He’s straight to the point, really calm in how he operates,” Dorna’s Jack Appleyard reported from the Buriram test.
“Not only with us, but with Aprilia. And even with the really high ranking Aprilia guys.
“They have been so impressed with his way of working throughout the shakedown.
“They have seen before, when a rookie comes in with an adrenaline rush of being on a MotoGP bike for the first time. They come into the box and you can’t shut them up.
“Ai? The total opposite. One of the Aprilia guys witnessed someone walking across to him, after he came in, to understand what he was feeling.
“But he just said ‘give me a moment’. He sat with his thoughts, processed them. When the moment was right, he explained."
Aprilia impress at Buriram test
“The timesheets [on Day 2 in Buriram] are impressive," Jack Appleyard continued.
"Marco Bezzecchi set the fastest Aprilia lap around this place. And was only half-a-second away from the all-time lap record at a place that has been Aprilia’s Kryptonite.
“Ogura was only three tenths behind on his second day of riding a MotoGP bike here.
“There are people in the Trackhouse squad thinking they could have a great year ahead of them.
“Particularly at Round 1 - it’s not out of the question for Ogura to automatically into Q2 at his debut grand prix.
“There’s a real chance that it could happen.”
Aprilia turned around a nightmare start to testing.
In Sepang, Jorge Martin and Raul Fernandez sustained injuries on Day 1.
Fernandez was able to gingerly return in Buriram but Martin missed the rest of testing.
In Martin's absence, factory rider Bezzecchi and satellite rider Ogura delivered eye-catching lap times which bodes well for next weekend's race.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
