Ai Ogura was highly critical of his own riding following his fifth place in the Thai Grand Prix on Sunday, believing he could have had a better result.
The Trackhouse Aprilia rider took a long time to spark into life during the race, in which he got boxed in at the start and dropped to 11th after starting eighth on the grid. He only began picking off the riders ahead of him on lap 16 of 26, after which he made rapid progress.
Buriram is a strong circuit for Ogura, who had the speed to qualify higher than he did. He finished the sprint race on Saturday in fourth place. All that left him particularly down on himself after his efforts on Sunday.
«There was some issue that stopped me in the first part of the race,» said the 25-year-old. «The problem was how I approached the corners, especially when all the bikes were in front of me.
«I was surprised how shit I was in the first part of the race. I’m not happy. I knew that I was going to be fast at the end of the race. That was my strong point for the race, but I couldn’t use it.»
The man from Saitama said he had made the wrong choices about when to attack and when to ease off: «When the bike was OK to push, maybe I didn’t. And when the bike [was] quite limited, that’s where I pushed. I should understand more.»
Ai Ogura, Trackhouse Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Although the fifth place was a repeat of his stellar MotoGP debut in last year’s Thai GP, Ogura would draw no comfort from that.
«The position is the same, but the feeling is completely different. Zero happiness,» he added.
At the back of Ogura’s mind may be that Buriram was the high point of his rookie campaign, which went steadily downhill after the first round. But with Aprilia’s four riders across the factory and Trackhouse teams currently fit and pulling together, chances of maintaining his momentum may be better this time around.
Photos from Thailand GP — Sunday
Thailand GP — Sunday, in photos
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Thailand GP — Sunday, in photos
Thailand GP — Sunday, in photos
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