Ai Ogura ‘can’t’ manage one important issue despite the Trackhouse rookie’s stellar Thai Grand Prix debut

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Ai Ogura produced the best MotoGP debut since Marc Marquez back in 2013 as the Trackhouse Racing rookie achieved a fifth-place finish at the 2025 Thai Grand Prix.

The premier class has not seen a pilot debut as well as Ogura at Buriram since Marquez took a podium in third place for Honda at the 2013 season-opening Qatar Grand Prix. He went on to win the MotoGP riders’ title that year, too, and Marquez could lift his seventh this season.

Marquez dominated the 2025 Thai GP to not only win on his debut for Ducati but bag a hat-trick with pole position plus the Sprint Race victory. The Spaniard’s performance at Buriram saw Francesco Bagnaia look defeated after the Thai GP with the Ducati riders the title rivals.

Ogura ensured Marquez did not claim all of the headlines, though, as the Trackhouse rookie stunned on his MotoGP debut. His fifth place in the Thai GP was not a fluke, either, after the 24-year-old qualified in P5 (0.352s off pole) and he ended the Sprint Race at Buriram in P4.

Ai Ogura admits the Trackhouse rookie is still struggling with a language barrier

Ogura even surprised Marquez at the Thai GP, with the new Ducati rider taken back after he learned of the Japanese ace’s pace at Buriram. The 2024 Moto2 champion was the top non-Ducati rider and finished with a 7.517s gap to the top factory Aprilia rider, Marco Bezzecchi.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Ai Ogura from height to career stats

It was a debut performance that put many people on notice, with Ogura the only rookie on the 2025 MotoGP grid without a factory contract. But his life with Trackhouse is not perfect in every aspect, as Ogura is still struggling with a language barrier with the American team.

“I can’t talk to my crew the way I would like to,” Ogura has told Speedweek. “I can’t explain what happens on the track. But I’m learning English.”

One option to help Ogura’s situation would be to hire a translator fluent in English, but even that would not be a simple task for the Trackhouse talent due to the specificities of MotoGP. Ogura added: “He would have to speak perfect English and have a technical understanding.”

The 2025 Argentina Grand Prix is a much bigger test for Ai Ogura than at Buriram

Ogura will hope his language barrier with Trackhouse does not prove detrimental when the MotoGP calendar continues next weekend with the return of the Argentina Grand Prix. The race returns to the schedule this year after MotoGP had to cancel its planned visit last term.

The 2025 season starting with the Thai Grand Prix was hugely beneficial for the rookie after MotoGP also held a two-day pre-season test at Buriram ahead of the race. Ogura also fared well at Buriram in Moto2, capped with a P2 in 2024 after coming P6 in 2022 and P5 in 2023.

Ogura did not fare as well at the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo through his visits for the Argentina GP in Moto2 and Moto3. While the Japanese rider came third at the 2022 Moto2 meet, he only earned P17 in the 2019 Moto3 race and could not start in 2023 due to injury.