Ai Ogura Bio
Ai Ogura (Japanese: 小椋 藍, Hepburn: Ogura Ai; born 26 January 2001) is a Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle racer who competes in the MotoGP class for Trackhouse MotoGP Team. He races the number 79 on an Aprilia. Ogura became the 2024 Moto2 World Champion with MT Helmets – MSi, making him the first Japanese rider to win a motorcycle road racing world championship in fifteen years, a drought dating back to Hiroshi Aoyama’s 2009 title. He previously raced in Moto2 and Moto3 for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, finishing as the championship runner-up in 2022. Ogura is also notable for being the first graduate of the Asia Talent Cup to reach MotoGP.
Early Life and Background
Ai Ogura was born on 26 January 2001 in Kiyose, Tokyo, Japan. He grew up in a racing household, the son of a motorcycle enthusiast named Shoji. His father, an amateur motorcyclist, introduced him to a pocket bike at the age of three, and Ogura began participating in races by the time he was four. The family environment shaped his early passion for two wheels, with his father also helping him with bike repairs and basic settings as a young child.
After turning nine, Ogura stepped up from pocket bikes to mini-bikes and continued to develop his craft. His older sister, Karen Ogura, is also a motorcycle racer and has competed in MotoAmerica, the All Japan Road Race Championship, and the Suzuka 8 Hours. The racing background of his family helped set the stage for his rapid progression through junior categories.
In 2015, at the age of 14, Ogura was selected to participate in the second season of the Asia Talent Cup. He immediately impressed by scoring a win and three podiums, putting himself on the radar of Honda’s development programs. That same year, he also entered the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, finishing on the podium once and ending 11th overall in 2016. He returned to the Asia Talent Cup in 2016 and finished as runner-up.
Path to MotoGP
Following his success in the Asia Talent Cup, Ogura was given a seat with the Asia Talent Team by Honda in the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship, where he won a race at Jerez. He also returned to the 2017 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, earning five podiums including two wins despite missing races through injury. In 2018, he completed his final FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship season with five podiums and a win in Valencia.
Ogura made his Moto3 World Championship debut in 2018 as a wildcard at the Spanish Grand Prix, finishing 15th and scoring his first world championship point. He signed with Honda Team Asia for the 2019 Moto3 World Championship, where a second place at Aragon was his best result. He improved in 2020, reaching the podium seven times and taking the title fight to the final round before finishing third overall with 170 points.
Ai Ogura Career
Early Career (2018–2020)
Ogura’s earliest world championship exposure came in 2018, when he balanced wildcard Moto3 appearances with a full FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship campaign. His performance in junior ranks convinced Honda Team Asia to promote him to a full-time Moto3 seat for 2019, where he partnered with Kaito Toba. That season, he scored points in 14 of 19 races and earned a single podium at Aragon.
The 2020 Moto3 season marked Ogura’s breakthrough into the title conversation. He stayed with Honda Team Asia, teamed up with rookie Yuki Kunii, and reached the podium on seven occasions. He led the standings at stages and arrived at the final round in Portugal within striking distance of the title, but lost the runner-up spot to Tony Arbolino on the last day. He finished third overall with 170 points, capping a steady developmental phase of his career.
Moto2 Breakthrough (2021–2022)
Ogura was promoted to Moto2 in 2021 with Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, racing alongside Thai rider Somkiat Chantra. In his rookie season, he reached the top ten in every race he finished except the opening round in Qatar. He earned his maiden Moto2 podium with second place at the Austrian Grand Prix, finishing 0.845 seconds behind Raúl Fernández. An injury from a crash at the Algarve Grand Prix forced him to miss Valencia, and he ended the year eighth overall with 120 points, just behind Fernández in the rookie standings.
In 2022, Ogura stayed with Idemitsu Honda Team Asia and immediately emerged as a title contender. He earned his first World Championship victory at Jerez, starting from pole position, and added a second win in Austria after a final-lap battle with teammate Chantra. He won at his home Motegi round and took the championship lead back after Australia. Heading to Malaysia with a 3.5-point lead over Augusto Fernández, he crashed on the last lap while battling for the race lead and lost his advantage, eventually finishing as runner-up with 242 points.
MT Helmets – MSi and 2024 Moto2 Title (2023–2024)
A broken wrist in pre-season testing ruled Ogura out of the first two rounds of 2023. He returned at COTA and produced three podiums across the year, including a runner-up finish at his home Motegi race, ending the campaign ninth overall with 137.5 points. On 15 September 2023, MT Helmets – MSi announced that Ogura would join their Moto2 project for 2024 alongside Sergio García, while HRC confirmed he would remain linked with their program.
For 2024, MT Helmets – MSi switched to Boscoscuro chassis, requiring Ogura to adapt from a Kalex frame he had used for three seasons. He opened the year with consistent podium finishes before taking his first win of the season in Barcelona. Additional wins followed at Assen and the San Marino Grand Prix, the latter coming only three weeks after he fractured his right hand in practice at the Austrian Grand Prix. With second places in Indonesia, Motegi, and Thailand, he clinched the 2024 Moto2 World Riders’ Championship ahead of Canet, Aldeguer, and García, finishing the season with three wins and eight podiums.
Trackhouse MotoGP Team Era (2025–Present)
On 15 August 2024, ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Trackhouse Racing announced that Ogura would be promoted to MotoGP on a two-year deal for 2025 and 2026, partnering Raúl Fernández. The move marked the end of Ogura’s career-long association with Honda. He made his MotoGP debut at the 2025 Thai Grand Prix aboard the Aprilia RS-GP25, qualifying fifth and finishing fourth in the Sprint and fifth in the main race, the best rookie MotoGP debut result since Marc Márquez’s third place at Qatar in 2013.
His second round in Argentina brought mixed results. After finishing eighth in the Sunday race, Ogura was disqualified for using a non-homologated software version. Trackhouse had to rebuild his Aprilia following a crash in Q1, and the technical director confirmed the software offered no performance benefit. At the British Grand Prix, a fall at Turn 2 during Free Practice resulted in a fracture to his right tibia, ruling him out of the rest of the weekend. After nearly a month of recovery, he was cleared medically just before the Italian Grand Prix and returned to racing action.
Driving Style and Strengths
Ogura is widely regarded as a smooth, technical rider who excels at consistent race management and minimizing mistakes across a season. His race craft showed in 2024, when he combined front-running pace with the discipline to deliver podiums in wet and dry conditions, including his dramatic San Marino win only three weeks after breaking his hand. His adaptability has also been tested by switching chassis suppliers from Kalex to Boscoscuro in Moto2 and from Honda to Aprilia in MotoGP.
Notable Races and Milestones
Ogura’s signature moments include his first Moto2 win at Jerez in 2022, his emotional home victory at Motegi later that year, and his championship-sealing ride in Thailand in 2024. The Thai Grand Prix debut in 2025 stands as another milestone, marking the first time an Asia Talent Cup graduate reached the premier class. His continued resilience through hand and tibia fractures has also become a defining feature of his career.
Ai Ogura Career Wins
Ai Ogura has accumulated victories across Moto3, Moto2, and the Asia Talent Cup, along with multiple wins in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship. His biggest single achievement is the 2024 Moto2 World Championship, the first world title for a Japanese rider in fifteen years. He also scored one Moto3 podium during his time with Honda Team Asia and added seven more across his two final Moto3 seasons.
Moto2 Highlights
Ogura has three confirmed Moto2 World Championship race wins, all coming in 2024 with MT Helmets – MSi, at Barcelona, Assen, and the San Marino Grand Prix. He also won twice in 2022 with Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, at Jerez and Austria, and added a memorable home victory at Motegi that same season. Across his Moto2 career he has scored numerous podiums and was championship runner-up in 2022 before sealing the title in 2024.
Other Wins and Performances
Earlier in his career, Ogura won races in the Asia Talent Cup, the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, and the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship, including a victory at Jerez. He finished runner-up in the 2016 Asia Talent Cup and earned multiple Rookies Cup podiums in 2017, including two wins despite missing races through injury. In Moto3, he reached the podium seven times in 2020 and finished third overall in the standings.
Ai Ogura Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Ogura comes from a family with deep ties to motorcycle racing. His father, Shoji, is an amateur motorcyclist who passed his love of bikes on to his son, helping him with repairs and settings from the age of three. His older sister, Karen Ogura, is a professional racer who has competed in MotoAmerica, the All Japan Road Race Championship, and the Suzuka 8 Hours.
Personal Life
Ogura has used the number 79 throughout his world championship career, a combination of his earlier number 7 and the number 9 he carried in the Asia Talent Cup. Since the start of his career, he has worn Daijiro Kato’s number 74 on the right shoulder of his leathers and Shoya Tomizawa’s number 48 on the left, paying tribute to two riders he considers key influences and sources of motivation.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 season marks Ai Ogura’s rookie year in MotoGP with Trackhouse MotoGP Team, riding the Aprilia RS-GP25. He opened with one of the strongest premier-class debuts in recent memory at the Thai Grand Prix, qualifying fifth, finishing fourth in the Sprint, and taking fifth in the main race, the best debut result by a rookie since Marc Márquez at Qatar in 2013. The pace shown on debut established him as a quick learner within the Trackhouse garage alongside teammate Raúl Fernández.
The early part of the season brought setbacks, including disqualification in Argentina for using a non-homologated software version and a tibia fracture at the British Grand Prix that forced him to miss the rest of that weekend. He returned to action at the Italian Grand Prix after nearly a month of recovery, with the medical clearance coming just in time. These results have highlighted both the learning curve of a MotoGP rookie and his determination to bounce back quickly.
With a two-year contract that runs through 2026 and a clear upward trajectory, Ogura’s 2025 campaign is being viewed as a development year aimed at building experience on the Aprilia and embedding himself within the team. His combination of world championship pedigree, technical feedback skills, and resilience through injury makes him one of the most closely watched Japanese riders in the premier class.
