set Marc off to launch his
escape. Almost immediately,
his lead grew to 1.3 sec
-
onds, then to two seconds,
as
he cruised to his 102nd
GP triumph. Ogura's ques-
tion to the victor before the
podium said
it all. "Could you
go faster, Marc?" he asked.
"Maybe," came the response
with a cheeky smile.
Fernandez held his own in
second place in the laps that
followed, with Acosta initially
troubling Ogura for third.
Soon, the Trackhouse April
-
ias were out on their own,
and
the Japanese rider took
second at the start of lap
25, one circuit after having
a sniff. Not only did Ogura
cement his title credentials
here, but he also became Ja
-
pan's first rider to score three
you get a row, you don't get two. For
safety it's the right idea, but for the
show, let's see."
RED BULL AND KTM
CONTINUE
Red Bull and KTM have renewed
their relationship for at least one
further season in MotoGP, extending
the partnership that's been in place
since the Austrian factory's entry
to the premier class in 2017. "Red
Bull and KTM just go together," said
KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer.
"It has been a great partnership for
so long and is much more than just
the colors of the bikes. Red Bull
supports us in many ways, both at
the track and behind the scenes. It
is an important collaboration, and
it makes us all very happy at the
factory that we can keep on bringing
this Austrian 'show' to our racing and
to MotoGP especially."
MIR EXPLAINS GRESINI
SWITCH
The combination of Gresini's suc-
cess and the chance to team up
with an old crew chief was the
reason Joan Mir gave for signing
with the Ducati satellite squad. "I
just looked at the results that they
were doing there, and every rider
that went there was successful,"
he said. There, Mir will be reunited
with Crew Chief Frankie Carchedi.
Together they won the MotoGP title
in 2020. "That honestly played an
important role," he said. "We've been
very successful in the past, and we
understand each other very well.
You know how good we understand,
and for this change you don't have
a lot of time, so that is time that is
already done—to understand your
crew chief and everything."
Briefly...
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 28 JULY 14, 2026 P95
Ai Ogura backed up his
maiden victory at the
previous round with
another solid weekend
at Sachsenring,
finishing second in
Sunday's GP.
