Intense sprint for Aprilia Racing in Buriram

Mar 1, 2025 Michael Le Pard News

Published March 1, 2025 by , Editor‑in‑Chief

BEZZECCHI BATTLES TO TWELFTH, SAVADORI TWENTIETH. AI OGURA FOURTH ON MOTOGP DEBUT WITH TRACKHOUSE
Aprilia Racing’s first sprint race of the 2025 season delivered plenty of thrills. Marco Bezzecchi crossed the line in twelfth, while Lorenzo Savadori, replacing the injured Jorge Martín, finished in twentieth. The day’s surprise came from Ai Ogura, who secured a deserved fourth place on his MotoGP debut for Aprilia.

Marco Bezzecchi’s Q2 session was cut short by a minor crash in the closing minutes from which he escaped unscathed as he tried to improve his lap time and target a front-row start. The sprint, starting from ninth position, proved immediately challenging: the dirty side of the grid, with little grip, caused him to lose traction at the start, relegating him to the back. Despite these difficulties, the Italian rider mounted a determined and hard-fought comeback, executing several overtakes to finish twelfth.

On the other side of the garage, Lorenzo Savadori, replacing the injured Jorge Martín, completed the sprint in twentieth position.

The Trackhouse rookie, Ai Ogura, delivered an exceptional performance, just missing out on the podium in fourth in his first-ever MotoGP sprint race on an Aprilia.
It was a tough day; unfortunately, I experienced some difficulties from the morning session onwards. The start was a shame – my grid spot was a little dirty. These things happen; others have had it in the past, and today it was my turn. The data shows that my start procedure was identical to the ones I practised, so the issue was purely down to the lack of grip in my grid position. I did well in the sprint – managing several overtakes – but when you’re at the back, the situation is always the same: if you don’t get some clean air with fewer riders ahead, everything becomes much harder after a few laps.
We’re still working on the set-up, and doing that during a race weekend isn’t easy. In fact, it’s the first time I’ve done more than 10 consecutive laps on the RS-GP25, but we still gathered some valuable insights. I’ll attempt another step forward tomorrow because we’ve anyway closed the gap. I’m pleased to see Aprilia competitive on a track that we’ve historically found tough. Seeing Ogura go so fast also shows that we’re working in the right direction. A rookie jumping on a new bike and pushing it to the limit quickly is seriously impressive.
In the morning, we had a few minor setbacks that affected Marco’s day a bit. We couldn’t set the lap times we expected, meaning we started from an unfortunate grid spot on a dirty section of the track – we know that. When you start further back, especially on circuits that put so much stress on the front tyre in these conditions, everything becomes extremely difficult. When Marco had a clear track, his lap times were fully comparable to the frontrunners, but unfortunately in MotoGP, the starting position is crucial. We worked on several key areas with Sava, and there were some encouraging signs. Congratulations to the entire Trackhouse team and Ai Ogura, who had an incredible sprint race. Both Trackhouse riders did an excellent job. Obviously, Raúl is still working on regaining confidence after missing testing due to injury, but we’re seeing positive signs.

2026 Newest Bike Reviews

TMW 2026 Motorcycle Model Review Guides