Japanese racer Karen Ogura will make her MotoAmerica AMA/FIM
North American Road Racing debut this coming weekend at Utah Motorsports Campus
(UMC). Ogura, a 20-year-old from Tokyo, will be competing in the Liqui Moly
Junior Cup on a Veloce Racing Yamaha YZF-R3 fielded by long-time Formula
USA/ASRA racer Nobi Iso.
“I was looking for a rider,” Iso told Roadracingworld.com Friday
at UMC. “Through my contacts in Japan she found out about it, and one day in
February I got an email from her saying, ‘I would like to race in America.’ Then
we started talking, and here we are.”
According to Iso, Ogura has been road racing since she started
riding pocketbikes at age three. In 2018, Ogura rode a Honda CBR250R to victory
during Round Four of the All-Japan SP250 National Championship and finished
fifth in the final Championship point standings. Ogura also races 600cc
machines annually in the Suzuka 4-Hours, a feeder event for the prestigious
Suzuka 8-Hours.
“She knows how to ride, and she knows how to win,” said Iso.
When asked about her goals for the weekend, Ogura, speaking
with Iso serving as a translator, said, “I want to win or be very close to
winning, but everything is new. It is my first time racing in America, my first
time racing at this track, my first time racing this motorcycle. But I will do
my best.”
And if the name Ogura sounds familiar, it should. Ogura’s 18-year-old younger brother Ai has won
Asia Talent Cup, Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, and FIM/CEV Moto3 Junior World
Championship races and is currently in his first full season racing in the FIM
Moto3 World Championship.