The opening MotoGP Sprint of 2025 had a number of storylines running through it, one of which was Ai Ogura, who finished fourth in his first race in the premier cla🔴ss.

It was not a Grand Prix, of course, but Ogura took fourth place at the beginning of the race when he passed multiple riders around the outside of turn one🅰, and then held position until the end, finishing 4.4 seconds off the win as the best non-Ducati rider.

It was a performance which impressed 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Franco Morbidelli, who tried to pass the 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Trackhouse Racing rider at the beginning of the race at turn fo𝐆ur, and was ulti🧜mately unable to mount another challenge.

“Today, the MVP of the day, which is Ai Ogura, was impressive,” Morbidelli said, adding th𒉰at he was surprised at how long the rookie’s pace lasted.

“To overtake him in the beginning of the race I made a mistake, then I was expecting 💃him to drop back some spots.

“But instead he had a spotless race, it was impressive, and it was very hot, but very beautiful at the same time to see him race in this way👍 in his first Sprint race ever in MotoGP.”

The Italian added that he was not any more impressed by Ogura because he’s riding🧸 an Aprilia, only because he’s a rookie, and made a comparison with another rider who stood out on debut.

“We’ve seen Aprilias being very⭕ quick in Sprint💜 races, so it doesn’t surprise me that he’s on an Aprilia; what surprises me is that this is his first race weekend ever in MotoGP,” Morbidelli said.

“We see how rookies struggle in new categories, apart fr♏om Pedro Acosta and Ai Ogura.”

Aprilia offic🐻ial test rider Lorenzo Savadori, who is racing in Thailand this weekend in plac꧒e of the injured Jorge Martin, said: “I’m happy for the result for Ai, for Ogura, because it was very impressive and we are working in a correct way and we are happy.”

Regarding what has impressed him about Ogur⛦a, Savadori added: “The feeling he has after eight days of testing, because he rode very well, very smooth, and aggressive in some points.

“Honestly, I’m happy for me and for Aprilia because also he’s a rookie and he’s able to ꦚarrive to 100 per cent, or close to 100 per ꦿcent, in the Sprint because he did a very good Sprint.

“Also, in general, this track for us is not a super-friendly track for us, s🥀o it’s positive.”

Ogura himself 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:said his Sprint performance was “a big surprise﷽,” but said he was able to 🍌use his position𒁏 to learn some things about riding technique in MotoGP, particularly about how to ride smoothly.

Quotes provided by Crash MotoGP Editor Peter McLaren at Buriram.