Ai Ogura was the first to be surprised to have earned his automatic ticket to Q2 in Portugal, for only the fourth time this season.
After a first season in MotoGP that started at a blistering pace, Ai Ogura has experienced difficult times, between injuries and a loss of confidence, and is only just beginning to return to the top 10. Two weeks ago, the Malaysian Grand Prix saw him be the best performer among the Aprilia riders, all of whom were struggling, and thus to secure a solid tenth place in the race on Sunday.
Having arrived with this positive momentum, the Japanese rider first tested the waters this morning during FP1, finishing 13th, before picking up the pace during Practice. Managing to hold his own amidst the rain and the very close lap times of his rivals, he secured his place in Q2 by finishing tenth.
This is only his fourth participation, since apart from Thailand, Qatar, and Catalonia, he had always reached Q1 without managing to advance. It is therefore an important milestone in the eyes of...Ogurawho admits to being the first to be surprised by this result, which nevertheless opens the way for him to achieve a solid qualification tomorrow.
"It was a pleasant surprise today. I wasn't expecting to go straight into Q2, so this first day was positive for us.", did he declare. “There are still many things to improve, but I think we're in a good dynamic at the moment. Recently we've performed quite well in the main races on Sundays, but we need to improve on Fridays and Saturdays. This time, Friday went better, so we hope to have a better race on Sunday.”
“Tomorrow will be another important day and we’ll see how qualifying goes after approaching today differently, especially the first five or six laps this morning. It worked well for me and it’s good to know that you can approach things in a different way. I’m happy.”
Results of the Portuguese Grand Prix Practice :
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
