Ai Ogura’s spell on the MotoGP sidelines will come to an end at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg.
The Japanese rider broke his thumb in a training accident following the British Grand Prix last month, and surgery ahead of the subsequent Aragon round saw him miss both that race and the San Marino Grand Prix that followed.
Now, pending a final fitness check during Friday’s opening practice session in Austria, MotoGP medical staff have given Ogura the green light to resume his campaign aboard the Trackhouse Aprilia.
This follows “intensive rehabilitation treatment in Barcelona,” according to a release from the team.
Whether the Dutch Grand Prix winner can regain his championship challenger status looks doubtful, however.
Even before missing these last two races, Silverstone had been a difficult weekend that saw him produce a rare raceday crash.
Nonetheless, he left Britain third place in the standings, a reasonable 37 points behind leader Jorge Martin. But Ogura’s absence in Aragon and San Marino means he comes into Austria 71 points off the lead and sixth on the points table.
Ai Ogura crashed out of the British grand Prix
Photo by: Glyn Kirk / AFP via Getty Images
Not only has the deficit almost doubled, but Marc Marquez now shares the lead with Martin. The reigning champion appears to be building real momentum as the season heads into its final third, making hunting him down a daunting prospect for a distant chaser.
While Ogura expects some pain this weekend, he returns on the basis that the thumb has recovered sufficiently that the risk of further damage is low – at least compared to what racing in San Marino last weekend would have involved.
“As long as I stay on the bike, for sure I will deal with the pain anyway on the bike, but there’s no chance that I make it worse,” Ogura told media in Austria on Thursday. “There is some risk [if] I crash, but a lot less than a week ago.”
Ogura also said that being misled by a doctor in Japan immediately following the training accident delayed the surgery and cost him a chance to return at Misano last weekend.
Asked if he had initially thought he could return without surgery, he replied: “That’s what [the] Japanese doctor told me. I have nothing against them, but I shouldn’t listen to that kind of comment.”
When he was then asked if immediate surgery might have allowed him to compete in the races that he missed, Ogura said, “Misano, probably”.
Trackhouse will be thrilled to have Ogura back following two underwhelming weekends on which his team-mate Raul Fernandez failed to hit the highs of Silverstone, where he won the grand prix.
Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori replaced Ogura at Aragon, while the squad fielded only Fernandez for the San Marino race at Misano.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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