Ai Ogura has outlined his tight scrap with Marc Marquez in the sprint race for the Malaysian Grand Prix, but denied he was acting under any manufacturer orders from Aprilia.

The Trackhouse rider got off to a brilliant start from fourth on the grid, passing both Pedro Acosta and Marquez to jump to second. But as the leaders braked into the tight opening corner, Ogura ran wide, bringing Marquez back into play.

The pair banged wheels at the second part of the corner and again heading into Turn 2, with Marquez forced to check up at the second instance, losing a place to eventual race winner Acosta.

Later in the race, Ogura and Marquez engaged in another close duel for second place, swapping positions several times before the Ducati rider cemented his position.

After leading a large chunk of the sprint, Ogura ultimately had to settle for fourth, missing out to the factory Aprilia of Marco Bezzecchi for the final podium position.

“I gained a few positions after the start. There was a little bit of a battle [with] Marc,” he recalled.

“We both arrived in the same corner, side by side so many times. I have to defend my position. I know he got a better pace than me, so he wanted to pass me. We just arrived in the corner like this so many times. 

“For sure, I tried to defend my position. It was a bit messy, but he beat me at the end.”

Ogura inherited the sprint lead on lap three when polesitter Alex Marquez crashed out at Turn 14. He initially did enough to remain at the front, but came under increasing pressure in the closing stages as light rain began hitting certain parts of the track intermittently.

The MotoGP sophomore admitted he lacked the pace in those conditions to score a sprint win and add to his maiden grand prix success at Assen.

"When it was already raining, I led for a few laps," he said. "I was surprised that Pedro didn't overtake me.

"I said, ‘maybe my pace is quite okay’. I kept going, but at the end they were much faster and I was slower.

"My pace was kind of stuck. I had no reference in the front. I was doing my lap by my own, and my pace kind of stuck. The three riders behind me were just faster, and they all passed me. It's difficult to manage that kind of situation."

No team orders

After the sprint, Marquez said he knew Ogura would put up a tough fight against him for second place, with Bezzecchi running just behind the pair in fourth.

While Marquez didn’t suggest that Ogura was deliberately slowing him down, he claimed that the Trackhouse rider would have risked losing his podium position to Bezzecchi if he had dropped to third.

“When I saw that I was third, Bezzecchi fourth, and Ai second, I knew that it would be tough,” Marquez said. “Because the paddock is small and I know that if I overtook him, he would lose the podium because he cannot be between me and Bezzecchi.” 

Asked whether Aprilia had instructed him to support Bezzecchi in his title bid, Ogura responded with a simple “no”.