Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia has praised Trackhouse gem Ai Ogura for setting a lap time that was “out of this world” to take pole position for the 2026 Czech Grand Prix.
Ogura stunned the field at Brno this Saturday by recording a 1:51.139 lap time on his satellite Aprilia RS-GP to get the first pole of his MotoGP career. The 25-year-old was in a class of his own in the second part of qualifying, with no rider able to lap within two tenths of a second.
VR46 star Fabio Di Giannantonio and Ducati ace Bagnaia put two GP26s on the front row for the Czech GP alongside Ogura. Yet the Italian pair setting lap times of 1:51.350 and 1:51.383 ensured they were only fighting for second, in front of factory Aprilia racer Marco Bezzecchi.
Who is going to win the Czech Grand Prix, and why?
Ai Ogura’s Czech Grand Prix pole position lap time blows Francesco Bagnaia away
Championship leader Bezzecchi only penned a 1:51.428 aboard his RS-GP, to trail Ogura by 0.289s in qualifying for the Czech GP. Trackhouse teammate Raul Fernandez also only set a quickest effort of 1:51.772 in Q2, despite him having briefly topped the timesheets early on.
READ MORE: Ai Ogura gets first MotoGP pole at the Czech GP, Marc Marquez qualifies P5
Bagnaia was blown away by Ogura’s speed, which he believes is simply a continuation of the form that the Japanese star has shown of late. Ogura got his first MotoGP podium with P3 in France at Le Mans, and Bagnaia feels he will even now be the favourite to win the Czech GP.
“I tried the maximum and, honestly, after this morning, the set-up we used was a bit worse compared to yesterday,” Bagnaia told TNT Sports 2 (20/06, 10:45). “I struggled a bit more.
“So, going back to the practice one was better, and I needed just the first time attack to understand the bike better. And then in the second one, I pushed again.
“I was expecting it to be good enough for a top three, but the lap time of Ai is out of this world. So, they are doing a very good job. Ai is doing a very good job, like yesterday. So, the main rival will be him.”
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Ogura scoring the first pole position of his MotoGP career at the 2026 Czech Grand Prix with what was also a new all-time lap record for Brno will have delighted Trackhouse. It will have also no doubt delighted Yamaha, with the Japanese ace believed to be joining them in 2027.
Reports emerged in April that Yamaha have signed Ogura for their factory 2027 line-up, with the Kiyose, Tokyo native set to take Alex Rins’ spot. He will help shape an all-new line-up for Yamaha, with Aprilia racer Jorge Martin due to replace the Honda-bound Fabio Quartararo.
Since then, Ogura scored the first Grand Prix podium of his MotoGP career with P3 in France when he could have even potentially won the race with a few more laps. Ogura finished just 0.874s shy as Martin won the French GP ahead of Bezzecchi, but he had the superior speed.
Ogura also secured P4 in the Hungarian Grand Prix last time out at Balaton Park. Now, works Ducati rider Bagnaia is tipping Trackhouse talent Ogura as the favourite to win the Czech GP in what will be the 26th start of his premier class career after only making his debut in 2025.
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