Trackhouse explain why they opted against an American MotoGP rider

Justin Marks explains thinking behind igorning US t♌al💝ent

Ai Ogura
Ai Ogura

Trackho♐use’s decision not to recruit an American rider for their MotoGP team has so far been ins💙pired.

When well-known NASCAR franchise 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Trackhouse announced their takeover of Aprilia’s satellite team last year, it seemed the perfect opportunity to bring an American rider into MotoGP.

Mot𝐆o2 talent Joe Roberts appeared in pole position for the chance - but Trackhouse opted against him.

Instead, they promoted Japan’s Ai Ogura from Moto2 where he won the championship.

The rookie has already shone, finishing P5 in his debut grand prix in the prem💖ier class and out-pacing teammate Raul Fernandez.

Trackhouse opted against a US rider

Team owner Justin Marks e🍒xpl൩ained why they didn’t go for an American.

“There are two lines of thought,” he told .

“One is, you know, do we lean so far into the American idea of our team, do we just stack it with Americans and make it t🔜hat above everything else?

“Or is t♉he MotoGP Trackhou🦹se team really the international growth vector for the Trackhouse brand?

“Ultimately what we landed on, while we want to lean into the fact that we’re an American team and celebrate ▨that, this truly is the function of the company that expan💮ds globally and internationally.”

Marks added: “We wanted to bring in somebody that we could build, th🐎at could grow with the team and that we coꦏuld be with for a long time.

“So, when we were looking at the rookies, you know, there was a lot of opportunity in Moto2, there’s just so much talent, there’s not really an outlier that’s li𒐪ke the one guy.”

Ogura is ninth in the MotoGP standings after four rounds, notably better-placed than Pedro Acosta, Brad Binder, Jack Miller or Alex Rin⛦s.

Hiring him was a gamble that has♏ paid off so far, Trackhouse team boss Davide Brivio admitted.

ꦅ“You kind of make a bet, you know, because you choose a guy that is in Moto2, there’s no chance to test in MotoGP,” Brivio said.

“💧You cannot make any assessment. You just have to rely on potential, you know? In future ꦗpotential.

“And that’s wh𓄧at we did with Ai. We thought he was talented. We𒀰 thought that he had a riding style close to MotoGP, or potentially becoming a MotoGP style.

“Also, we really liked his approach last year, sometimes in difficulty, some bad starts, to keep recoveriꦡng, resilience, and fighting.”

Ogura exudes an air of calmnessꦿ which, initially, Trackhouse might not have known how to interpret.

They discovered it was a key attribute for him.

“Of course, w🐽e found out this lat🌌er again,” Brivio said.

“It’s a bet – you do൩n’t know the potential, but also in reality, you don’t know the person or what their approach is.

“When you live in 🐽the same garage, you spend time in the garage, and then you talk to the crew chief, 🧜to the technician, then you figure out the characteristics of a rider, and we found out he’s very, yes, very calm.

“He wants to learn, but step by step, taking the right time to understand.ဣ”

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