Surprise Agreement - Ai Ogura Heavily Linked with Trackhouse Racing
Ai Ogura is preparing to move up to MotoGP in 2025: The Japanese rider has reached a surprise agreement with Trackhouse Racing.
It is a move that comes as quite a surprise: As Motorsport.com reports, Ai Ogura is close to signing a contract with Trackhouse Racing to become a MotoGP rookie in 2025.
Although the deal between Trackhouse and Ogura is not officially announced yet, Motorsport.com has learned that the American MotoGP team and the Japanese rider reached an agreement.
According to the deal, Ogura will ride an Aprilia RS-GP next to Raul Fernandez, whose contract with the Trackhouse team was extended until the end of 2026 a few days ago.
Trackhouse was originally poised to sign American rider Joe Roberts from Moto2. However, according to information from Motorsport.com, these talks did not lead to an agreement.
Ogura’s designated MotoGP promotion is likely to mean that HRC officials will continue to hold on to Takaaki Nakagami.
Honda had originally considered the possibility of Ogura joining the LCR team for the 2024 MotoGP season. However, he rejected this offer before his move to the newly formed MT Helmets MSI Moto2 squad.
The Japanese declined, wanting to win the Moto2 title first, adding to the fact that the RC213V wasn’t the kindest to its riders.
