Earlier today, our colleagues at Motorsport broke the news that Jorge Martín is looking to get out of his contract with the factory Aprilia MotoGP team at the end of the 2025 season. And honestly, if you've been paying attention to the kind of season he's been having since he was pushed out of the Ducati fold, it's hard to blame him.
2025 has, in pretty much every respect, been the kind of year that most riders—especially if you were a freaking world champion last year—would like nothing more than to forget.
It's not clear at this point whether Martín's management team and Aprilia will be able to come to a satisfactory agreement for both parties. But assuming they do, there's a rather important next question to consider. Assuming Martín moves on at the end of 2025, who steps into his spot with the Aprilia factory racing team?
The Case for Ai Ogura
The reigning Moto2 World Champion stepped up to MotoGP for his rookie year at the beginning of 2025. It was kind of a big deal when he signed on the dotted line with Trackhouse Aprilia, as many speculated that the American racing outfit would go for fellow Moto2 racer Joe Roberts instead. After all, the reasoning went, Roberts is an American racer who's been doing far better than any American racer has in this series in a long time.
But it's not difficult to understand why Trackhouse went the Ogura route instead. It wasn't just that he won the 2024 Moto2 World Championship; it was how he did it. Ogura consistently showed the ability to leapfrog other racers on track, even when he didn't start from a favorable position on the grid. There were times he led from the front, sure; but also plenty of times when he fought back and achieved impressive results, even though he was coming from behind.
Not every racer can do that, which definitely made Ogura stand out. Given how Ogura and Roberts have fared in their respective series in the first six races of 2025, it appears that Trackhouse made the best decision between the two racers; Roberts is sadly having a less-than-stellar season so far in Moto2 in 2025.
By contrast, early in the 2025 MotoGP season, Ogura was clearly the rookie to watch on his Trackhouse Aprilia. In Q2 of the 2025 Grand Prix of Thailand, the first race of the season, Ogura was the highest-qualifying Aprilia on the grid, starting from 5th. He turned that into a 4th-place finish in the Sprint race that weekend; again, as the highest-placing Aprilia in the pack.
On Race day in Thailand, Ogura brought his Trackhouse bike home in 5th place; once again, as the highest-placing Aprilia and also the highest-placing non-Ducati during the full race. Also the highest-placing rookie, but at this point, it might seem like we're starting to pile the accolades on a bit thick, aren't we?
The second 2025 MotoGP race weekend wasn't as strong for Ogura. He didn't make it to Q2, finished 15th in the Sprint, and was disqualified from the main race on Sunday. The next race weekend was at COTA in the US, where he didn't make it into Q2 but did manage to place 9th in both the Sprint race and the main race on Sunday.
In Qatar, he qualified in 10th spot in Q2 before going on to finish 7th in the Sprint. Race day wasn't as kind to him, as he only finished in 15th. The only Aprilia to finish ahead of him was Marco Bezzecchi. Obviously, since Qatar, Martín has been out with serious injuries. However, neither Ogura's Trackhouse Aprilia teammate Raul Fernandez nor Aprilia factory racer Bezzecchi has usually been able to pull off great results with this year's factory and satellite Aprilia machines.
That did change a bit the following weekend, in Spain. Ogura didn't make it into Q2 here, but Bezzecchi managed to qualify in 11th. In the Sprint race, Ogura finished in 12th, while Bezzecchi brought it across the line in 8th. Luck flipped for Ogura on race day, though, as he once again became the highest-placing Aprilia when he finished in 8th. Bezzecchi finished in 14th, just ahead of Ogura's Trackhouse teammate in 15th.
During the French GP at Le Mans, Bezzecchi was the highest-qualifying Aprilia in 7th, with Raul Fernandez qualifying in 10th. Ogura did not make it into Q2 here. Likewise, during the Sprint, he only managed to bring it across the line in 14th. Meanwhile, his teammate finished the Sprint in 10th—but both Trackhouse Aprilias finished ahead of factory Aprilia racer Bezzecchi, who finished the Sprint in a dismal 17th.
While Johann Zarco made history with his race win on Sunday, Trackhouse Aprilia racer Fernandez brought it home in 7th place, as the highest-placing Aprilia on the grid. Savadori on his factory Aprilia came home in 9th, while Ogura finished in 10th for Trackhouse Aprilia. Finally, Bezzecchi brought it home in 14th for the Aprilia Factory team.
Where are the rider standings after Le Mans? At the time of writing, Ai Ogura is the Aprilia racer who's highest in the standings, sitting firmly in 10th position in the rider rankings. He's just behind Pedro Acosta on the factory KTM, and two spots ahead of Marco Bezzecchi on the factory Aprilia, in 12th.
So far this season, Ogura has scored 5 points more than Bezzecchi, and more than twice as many as his Trackhouse teammate, Raul Fernandez. Lest you forget, apart from the injured Martín, there's also Lorenzo Savadori on the factory Aprilia team. He currently sits in 21st place in the rider standings; lowest of all the Aprilias currently on the grid that have also been able to compete during race weekends.
Sure, Ogura has signed with Trackhouse through 2026, but there's usually wiggle room between satellite and factory teams if a situation exists where bumping a racer up to the factory team makes all the sense in the world. See also the recent history of Pedro Acosta's career trajectory.
The Case for Toprak Razgatlıoğlu
As you may or may not be aware, the two-time WSBK champion Razgatlıoğlu (along with manager Kenan Sofuoğlu, himself a five-time WSSP champ) has been very vocal about wanting to make the leap from WSBK to MotoGP very soon.
While this admittedly seems like a long shot, as most such talk has revolved around both Razgatlıoğlu and BMW entering the MotoGP paddock at the same time (he's currently on a BMW contract in WSBK, as a matter of fact), it's important to remember that Razgatlıoğlu prides himself on being able to adapt to machines developed by different OEMs. He's switched manufacturers a few times previously in his racing career, racing with Kawasaki, Yamaha, and now BMW. Could it be time for a switch to the only Italian MotoGP team currently on the grid that isn't Ducati?
I'll stress that it does seem like a long shot, but if the stars align just right, strange things can happen. If Razgatlıoğlu is keen enough to get into MotoGP, and BMW isn't making the right noises, could the two admittedly quite strong racing entities consider dissolving their partnership?
Admittedly, this is all just a bit of fun. We don't know what's going to happen next, and MotoGP Silly Season is always anything but predictable. What are your best guesses for the Aprilia Factory racing team for next year?
Do you think Ogura is better off with Trackhouse, given the results he's been able to extract with that team and machine so far in 2025? Or do you think that the Aprilia Factory team will be in a more competitive position next year? Let us know in the comments.
