Three rookies taking on MotoGP in 2025: who are they?

Ai Ogura

• Age : 24 years old in a few days
• Prize list: 2024 Moto2 world champion
• Team : Trackhouse MotoGP

Ai Ogura arrives in MotoGP as a Moto2 championship winner, perfectly embodying the springboard that the intermediate Grand Prix category should be for rising stars. The first Japanese to be titled in 15 years, he is in fact the incarnation of an exemplary career although it could not be more classic, having been piqued by his father's passion from a very young age. Pocket bikes and minimotos quickly confirmed his taste for two wheels, and from the age of 13 he was racing on circuits.

He who is today the first driver from the Asia Talent Cup to have won a world title, he was spotted in the Dorna Asian talent detection program before walking the tracks of the other formulas of the band. We saw him in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, then in the Junior Moto3 world championship, which directly opened the doors to the Grands Prix for a few first races in 2018.

Becoming a starter the following year with Honda Team Asia, he distinguished himself with starts on the front row then a first podium, before multiplying the trophies in 2020. This is where he touched his finger for the first time. once his dream of becoming world champion, however failing against Albert Arenas and Tony Arbolino.

His move to the Moto2 category would lead him to a new opportunity in 2022, after a season of adaptation, but Ogura was finally beaten by Augusto Fernández by collapsing at the end of the championship. After a 2023 season and then his transfer to MT Helmets, he was again at the forefront in 2024 and this time managed to put everything together to win.

His links with Honda and Idemitsu have brought Ai Ogura's name several times closer to the LCR team, where it was considered that he could replace Takaaki Nakagami. Reluctant, he finally found an opportunity at Aprilia, recruited to team up with Raúl Fernández in the Trackhouse satellite team.

“I know how I am. I know that I am not one of the fastest, I have the feeling that I do not have extraordinary talent, but by working very hard I believe I can get there”, he declared in all humility after his coronation. “I only dreamed of one thing, and that was to be number one in the world. It might be my only title, but I've thought about it my whole career and now I feel like I'm be totally ready to move into MotoGP.”

Fermin Aldeguer

• Age : 19 ans
• Prize list: 3rd in the 2023 Moto2 world championship
• Team : Gresini Racing

Recruited very early, Fermín Aldeguer can boast of having been signed directly by Ducati to join MotoGP in 2025, without knowing at the time in which team he would make his debut. Expected to ride a GP25 at Pramac, it will ultimately be at Gresini and on a Desmosedici from last year that he will take his first steps, a consequence of the departure of Paolo Campinoti's team to the Yamaha group, but the manufacturer assures: he is a rising star on whom Borgo Panigale intends to bank for the future.

This signing was the result of Aldeguer's best season in Grand Prix, a 2023 championship finished in third place in Moto2 with four victories in a row at the end of the season. Perceived by Gigi Dall'Igna as “one of the strongest drivers of the new generation”it was a question of not letting him escape while other brands were already interested in him.

Originally from the region of Murcia, Aldeguer entered the competition very early, with early successes which did not take long, both at regional and national level. A pure product of the Cuna de Campeones, he joined the European Talent Cup in 2018, before moving to an R6 of the Superstock 600 regulations at the European level with the title up for grabs. This somewhat atypical orientation allowed him to shine the spotlight, obtaining an interim place in Grand Prix, Moto2 category, as well as a contract to race in MotoE while continuing with a new coronation in his main championship.

His appearances in the Grand Prix were then enough to convince that he deserved a stable place and it was Speed ​​Up which would give him his chance, in 2021. Youngest Moto2 poleman at the start of 2023, he showed great abilities in the race, wasted however by a tendency to fall. His second full season was going to be stronger, so much so that it led him to victory five times and earned him third place in the championship.

Since signing his contract, which happened immediately, Aldeguer has not escaped criticism, failing to meet the high expectations placed on him in 2024, although he has validated a place in the final top 5. With a two-year contract in his pocket (with an option for an extension with Ducati), the young Spaniard in any case has time to see it coming.

Somkiat Chantra

• Age : 27 ans
• Prize list: 6th in the 2023 Moto2 world championship
• Team : LCR Honda

Seven years older than Fermín Aldeguer, Somkiat Chantra obtained his entry into MotoGP through patience. Like Ai Ogura, he went through the Asia Talent Cup, albeit briefly before joining the Junior Moto3 world championship. He owes his debut in Grands Prix to a wild card for his national event in 2018, in the Moto3 category, with a ninth place that day which would not go unnoticed.

Established by Honda Team Asia, Chantra managed to stand out with other good performances subsequently, despite some injuries and a certain irregularity, in particular by completely missing out on his 2020 season. After a top 5 in 2021, the following year he became the first Thai to win a Grand Prix in a memorable race at Mandalika.

This entire season was one of clear progression, rewarded by his tenth place in the championship, before further progress the following year which would take him up to sixth place with another victory to his credit. More irregular in 2024, he nevertheless seized his chance by taking the place that Idemitsu reserves for an Asian rider in MotoGP and will therefore replace Takaaki Nakagami at LCR. He will be the first to represent his country in the premier category.