Pedro Acosta and Albert Arenas crash out at Le Mans.

The French Grand Prix ended with misfortune for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders. Albert Arenas was unable to finish after being involved in a multiple crash that caused a red flag. Pedro Acosta also crashed when in second place after the restart.

Acosta faced the French Grand Prix race from fifth on the grid, and held his position off the line. After the race was restarted at a reduced length of 14 laps, he moved his way up to second place and maintained a good pace, achieving a new lap record at the French circuit. With 9 laps to go, he crashed at Turn 7 when closing the gap to the leader, which prevented him from finishing the French Grand Prix despite a positive feeling about the weekend. Acosta has 74 points in the standings, in which he is second.

Arenas took a step forward over the weekend at Le Mans. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider started the race focused on moving up the order after starting from the fourth row of the grid, but after the first few laps he was part of a big crash at Turn 5 that forced the race to be red flagged. He escaped unhurt, but unfortunately was unable to take part in the restart. Arenas occupies eleventh place in the overall standings with 27 points.

Despite the crashes, both riders are unhurt and are already turning their focus to next month, in which a three-race run begins with the Italian Grand Prix on June 9-11th.

Aki Ajo – Team Manager

“After a race in which both of our riders crashed it’s a little bit of an occasion to forget. On the other hand, even after a difficult weekend we need to analyse everything very deeply and see what we can learn from this weekend. In Practice our pace and speed with Pedro and Albert was good, but unfortunately it wasn’t our luckiest day in the race. We have a really positive mindset and are looking forward to the next GP at Mugello.”

#37 PEDRO ACOSTA

“I consider the weekend to have been a good one, because we are seeing that we are competitive in all conditions, in QP and at any circuit. I want to apologise to the team because I think that in the race we could have at least been on the podium. They deserved that result, but mistakes can be made and today it was our turn to make them. We will take away the positive part of the weekend and learn from everything. Now we have a three-week break, so it’s time to train a bit with the team, understand some things and look for something that makes us a little faster.”

#75 ALBERT ARENAS

“It has been a difficult day. I made a good start and I gained places, but the crash was strange and everything happened very quickly. It’s a pity because we had done a good job over the weekend and it was time to make it count in the race. Now we have to pick ourselves up and use these weeks to regroup and come back stronger at Mugello. It’s a shame for the team, but that’s racing.”

Deniz Öncü completes the race in sixth position, and his teammate Jose Antonio Rueda in ninth.

The Moto3 race of the French Grand Prix took place on Sunday at Le Mans and the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders fought intensely from start to finish. Deniz Öncü was in the podium positions for most of the race, finally finishing sixth. Jose Antonio Rueda crossed the line in ninth place, again finishing in the Top 10.

Öncü started from the second row of the grid, which allowed him to quickly move into the Top 3. The Turkish rider remained there for a large part of the contest and with a consistent pace, trying to prevent his rivals from increasing their gap. With 4 laps to go, he dropped down to fifth position. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider eventually took the chequered flag in sixth, earning him points and putting him tenth in the overall standings with 33 points.

Rueda lost several places after starting from the fourth row of the grid, although he quickly started to move up the order and set his sights on the front group. After the midway point of the race, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was tussling for eighth place after the leading group broke away. Rueda looked for solidity and a comfortable feeling and earned another Top 10 finish, placing ninth. Rueda also occupies ninth in the standings, with 37 points.

The next race will be held in three weeks’ time, as the Italian Grand Prix takes place from June 8-11th at Mugello.

Aki Ajo – Team Manager

“Moto3 had a positive today, which was that both riders were in the Top 10. We need to be happy when we collect points although, if we are honest, our target was to earn a few more. In the last few races we saw that both Öncü and Rueda had good speed and a good pace. We are really confident for the next three races that are coming up, and think that we can make good progress.”

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“I tried to remain fast at all times, but this circuit is hard because of my physical conditions and riding style. I was struggling a lot on the straight but I tried my best and I accept how the weekend went. We were fighting for the top positions but in the end I had less speed and I finished sixth. I will try to improve the results in the next race at Mugello.”

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“I made a very good start and I was able to get to the front. Afterwards I clipped another rider, went a little wide and lost some positions. I started to push but the group in front had already gotten away a bit, although halfway through the race I almost caught up with them. We worked very well during the weekend, the setup of the bike was good, but something was missing. I’m happy because we had a good race and we have taken more points.”

Results (Race)

1. Daniel Holgado (KTM) 34:07.176

2. Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) +0.150

3. Jaume Masia (Honda) +0.946

4. Ivan Ortola (KTM) +1.113

5. Ryusei Yamanaka (GasGas) +2.409

6. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +2.521

9. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +11.930

Moto3 World Championship Standing 2023

1. Daniel Holgado (KTM) 84 points

2. Ivan Ortola (KTM) 63 points

3. Jaume Masia (Honda) 63 points

4. Diogo Moreira (KTM) 55 points

5. Xavier Artigas (CFMoto) 50 points

9. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 37 points

10. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 33 points

Moto3 Teams World Championship Standing 2023

1. Leopard Racing 101 points

2. Angeluss MTA Team 89 points

3. Red Bull KTM Tech3 86 points

4. Red Bull KTM Ajo 70 points

5. Gaviota GASGAS Aspar M3 63 points