Ai Ogura is enjoying a strong moment. After being announced as a MotoGP rider for 2025, the Japanese rider dominated the opening day of the Moto2 Austrian GP leading both practice sessions.
In the first flying laps, Arón Canet (Fantic Racing/Kalex) was on top, but was soon overtaken by Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex). The Spaniard briefly regained the lead before Ogura (MT Helmets-MSi/Boscoscuro) set a lap that kept him at the top for nearly half an hour.
Ogura was eventually surpassed by Chantra after 34 minutes, with the Thai rider then being overtaken by Alonso López (Sync SpeedUp/Boscoscuro) and later by Marcos Ramírez (OnlyFans American Racing/Kalex), who also held the lead briefly.
In the final minutes, Ogura confirmed his pace as the fastest at the Red Bull Ring, completing a lap in 1m33.943s. This allowed him to beat Canet by 0.152s, with Manuel González (QJMotor Gresini/Kalex) finishing third.
Ramírez and Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex) completed the top five, while championship leader Sergio García (MT Helmets-MSi/Boscoscuro) finished eighth, 0.430s off the top.
Timesheets:
After Friday, @AiOgura79 is the rider to beat 🔝
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 16, 2024
The @MthelmetsMSi rider was fastest in #Moto2 P1 ahead of Aron Canet and @18ManuGonzalez 👏#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/IKa5q1ZtUS
