Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia has praised Trackhouse Games’ Ai Ogura for setting an “out of this world” lap time to claim pole position for the 2026 Czech Grand Prix.
Ogura stunned the field at Bruno this Saturday, recording a night time of 1:51.139 on his satellite Aprilia RS-GP to claim 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 get past within two tenths of a second.
VR46 star Fabio Di Giannantonio and Ducati ace Bagnaya For the Czech GP, put two GP26s in the front row next to each other Ogura. However, the Italian pair ensured they would only battle for second as they set lap times of 1:51.350 and 1:51.383, ahead of factory Aprilia racer Marco Bezecchi.
Who will win the Czech Grand Prix, and why?
Ai Ogura’s Czech Grand Prix pole position lap time saw Francesco Bagnaia out.
Championship leader Beszczyk aboard the RS-GP clocked just 1:51.428 to qualify for the Czech GP by 0.289 over Ogur. Tracking house Team-mate Raul Fernandez only managed a fastest 1:51.772 effort in Q2, although he briefly topped the timesheets early on.
Read more: Ai Ogura secured his first MotoGP pole at the Czech GP, while Marc Marquez completed P5.
Bagnaya is blown away by Ogura’s pace, which he believes is simply a continuation of the Japanese star’s form of late. Ogura got his first MotoGP podium with P3 at Le Mans in FranceAnd Bagnaia even now feels that he will be the favorite to win the Czech GP.
“I tried the maximum and actually the preparation we used in the morning was a little worse compared to yesterday,” said Bagnaia. TNT Sports 2 (20/06, 10:45). “I struggled a little bit.
“So it was better to go back to practice, and I needed to attack the first time to understand the bike better. And I pushed again on the second.
“I expected him to be good for the top three but Ai’s lap time is out of this world. So they are doing a great job. Ai is doing a great job like yesterday. So he will be the main rival.”
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Ogura scored the first pole position of his MotoGP career in 2026 Czech Grand Prix He thrills the trackhouse with a new all-time lap record for Brno. It will no doubt please Yamaha as it is believed to be joining the Japanese Asean in 2027.
Reports came out in April Yamaha has signed the Ogura to their factory 2027 lineupAlong with Kios, the Tokyo native is set to take over for Alex Rins. He will replace the Honda-bound Fabio Quattararo and help form a new line-up with Aprilia racer Jorge Martin.
Since then, Ogura has scored the first Grand Prix podium of his MotoGP career in France in P3, winning the race with just a few more laps to go. Ogura finished 0.874s shy, while Martin won the French GP ahead of Bezechi, but had a superior pace.
Ogura secured P4 at the Hungarian Grand Prix last time out at Balaton Park. Now, Jobs Ducati rider Bagnaya is making trackhouse talent Ogura the favorite to win the Czech GP in the 26th start of his premier class career since making his debut in 2025.
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