Published 20/06/2026 à 12:09
Cyprien Juilhard
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There are milestones that mark a career, and a first pole position in the premier class is undoubtedly one of those moments. But Ai Ogura isn’t a very emotional guy. So, when he sets the fastest time in qualifying for the first time in his young career, the Japanese rider isn’t one to jump for joy. On the contrary, he’s already focused on the two races this weekend in the Czech Republic, where he has a great opportunity to clinch his first victory in the series. MotoGP.
“The conditions in Sprint will be very different,” he tempers. “The pace we had this morning was very good. I think I can fight for good positions, but there are a lot of fast drivers, so we’ll see. We’ll see this afternoon and on Sunday. They will be long races, we’ll see what happens.”
What makes him doubt his ability to do as well in the race as in qualifying are some difficulties encountered with his Aprilia since the beginning of the weekend. “I’m very happy, but we’re still missing something on certain parts of the circuit, so we’ll have to adjust a few parameters before the two races. I hope to implement my driving strategy later today.”, he analyzes on Canal+.
The fact remains that the young Japanese rider has just achieved a real feat: by putting more than two tenths of a second between himself and his runner-up Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati VR46), the number 79 shattered the circuit record to give his country its first pole position since the 2020 Teruel Grand Prix. At the time, Takaaki Nakagami had caused a surprise by securing pole for Honda LCR.
“Of course I’m very happy with this session. It’s my first pole position in MotoGP after a fantastic lap.” Ai Ogura assures. “The lap was really very good. I didn’t expect to go that fast, but it’s great to finally be able to do a really fast lap on Saturday morning.”
He will be the sole Aprilia representative on the front row, ahead of the Ducatis of Fabio Di Giannantonio and Pecco Bagnaia. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) managed only the fourth fastest time, while his teammate Jorge Martín qualified 10th after coming through Q1. Raúl Fernández, the team’s teammate at Ai Ogura, will start 7th.
For the poleman, the goal will now be to do better than Takaaki Nakagami, who crashed in the first few corners after his pole position in Teruel in 2020.
ALSO READ > Czech GP – Qualifying: Ai Ogura secures Japan’s first pole position in 6 years
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