MotoGP Rookie Suffers Bizarre Disqualification From Argentina Grand Prix

Trackhouse Racing rider Ai Ogura has been disqualified from the Argentina Grand Prix, after the impressive MotoGP rookie delivered another statement performance.

Once again the top Aprilia rider in Sunday’s race, just like he was during the season opener in Thailand, Ogura suffered a bizarre post-race disqualification when his RS-GP bike was deemed to be running a “non-homologated software”.

After struggling earlier in the weekend following a crash that led to a P15 result in qualifying, Ogura turned things around for what appeared to be a second consecutive top ten result, as he came across the line in eighth position.

However, the infringement and subsequent disqualification meant Aprilia had no representative inside the top ten as Ogura’s teammate Raul Fernandez could only manage 15th place, while Marco Bezzecchi did not finish.

The penalty Ogura received is the first of that kind since MotoGP has been running spec electronics since 2016, making it all the more bizarre and surprising.

Discussing the penalty for Ogura Trackhouse Racing team principal, Davide Brivio, said: “The post race sanction against Ai is very disappointing. We have to accept the decision of the Stewards but feel very sorry for Ai because this didn’t give him any advantage and it’s so disappointing to take away points from a great race and the great performance that he did on track.

“It doesn’t take away anything from what he has done. It was just a wrong version of the software in the ECU. He did a great race, a fantastic recovery and we move on and we will continue.”

Find the latest MotoGP racing news on Visordown.com