Ai Ogura's Unique Riding Style Impresses Aprilia Rivals

Ai Ogura earned praise from his Aprilia rivals after claiming his maiden MotoGP victory at the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix. Both Jorge Martin and Raul Fernandez described the Trackhouse MotoGP Team rider's riding technique as unusual, but highly effective when it comes to preserving tyre performance over race distance.

After solving his qualifying struggles, Ogura once again demonstrated exceptional race pace at Assen. Although he dropped to fourth during the opening laps, the Japanese rider steadily built his rhythm before overtaking both Martin and Fernandez in the second half of the race to secure his first MotoGP victory.

Fernandez revealed that telemetry showed Ogura's performance continued to improve as the race progressed. According to the Spaniard, his team-mate rides the RS-GP differently from almost every other rider on the MotoGP grid.

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"Watching Ai ride the bike is quite strange because his riding style is different from all of us. Maybe that's why he's so strong in the final part of the race. Looking at the data, his performance keeps getting better and better, so everyone should be careful with him in the championship," Fernandez said.

Martin, who now leads the championship, shared the same impression. The Aprilia Racing rider admitted it was difficult to follow Ogura because of the Japanese rider's unusual body position through the corners.

"It looks like he's crashing in every corner! His upper body is incredibly low while the bike stays upright. When I follow him, I keep thinking he's about to crash, but then he simply turns and accelerates away. Maybe that's why he's so fast in the closing laps," Martin explained.

Ogura's Assen triumph continued an impressive run of form after several recent runner-up finishes. Starting from the front has finally allowed him to exploit his outstanding tyre management throughout the race rather than spending valuable laps recovering from poor qualifying positions.

The victory lifted Ogura to fourth in the riders' standings, only 25 points behind Martin. Across the last two MotoGP rounds, the Japanese rider has scored 63 points—more than any of his championship rivals—firmly establishing himself as one of the leading contenders in the 2026 title fight.