Ai Ogura 'Not Expecting' Silverstone MotoGP Podium Despite Strong Friday

Ai Ogura remains in doubt about his podium credentials at the Silverstone MotoGP despite an “acceptable” Friday. The Trackhouse Aprilia rider arrived in England on the back of the strongest three-race stretch of any rider, with two second-place finishes and a win in that time.

That form has lifted him to second in the MotoGP riders' standings and made him a consistent podium threat. On Friday, he was the first rider to lap in the 1m56s bracket, quicker than the existing qualifying lap record. Yet Ogura played down his chances for Sunday.

“I'm not expecting to finish in the top-three on Sunday,” said Ogura after Practice. “But this year's condition is a lot nicer than last year, so it's definitely helping me a lot. Hopefully we'll have a good condition in the next two days.”

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The consequence of Ogura's crash last year was that he missed most of the Silverstone weekend, leaving him short on track time. Jorge Martin flagged that as a hurdle, but Ogura was less concerned. “It was quite okay, at least I did FP1 last year,” he said.

Overall, he felt it was a good enough day, even if he was not thrilled by his performance. “Today in general it was acceptable,” he said. “The lap time was okay and I didn't [expect] that I ended up day one in P5, so it's good.” Asked what would have been unacceptable, Ogura responded: “Lap time which is not enough to be in the top-10, because our target is to be in the top-10 today.”

Ogura heads into Saturday with a 14-point deficit to championship leader Jorge Martin, while Marc Marquez – sixth on Friday and feeling “far from the podium” – sits four points behind him. The title battle is heating up, and Ogura is right in the mix.