DENIZ ÖNCÜ TAKES HIS FIRST MOTO2 WIN AND EXTENDS THE TEAM’S STREAK AT MOTORLAND

The Turkish rider beats out Diogo Moreira by 0.003s to win the #AragonGP. Replacement rider Dani Muñoz finishes 15th and earns his first point in the World Championship.

Deniz Öncü took his first Moto2 victory at the Aragon Grand Prix after a fast race decided right on the finish line. The Turkish rider edged out Diogo Moreira by just 0.003s to claim the win at MotorLand, extending Red Bull KTM’s Moto2 podium run at the track to eight consecutive seasons. His victory becomes Turkey’s, and also Norway’s, first in the intermediate class. Dani Muñoz made good progress to finish in the Top 15, earning his first ever point in the Moto2 World Championship.

Öncü made a perfect start, moving into second place at the first corner and taking the lead soon after. His strong pace on the opening lap managed to take the leading group away from the rest of the field, but at the start of the second lap Barry Baltus overtook the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider. The pair were out in front with Aron Canet and Diogo Moreira to open a gap with the rest of the rivals behind.

Ôncü held off attacks from Canet, then in the final third of the race he passed Baltus and set the fastest lap of the race. Tyre wear allowed Moreira to close in on him and pass him in the final laps, but on the final corner of the race the Turkish rider reduced the gap and passed his rival on the outside, sneaking through and taking the chequered flag first by three thousandths of a second. With the victory, the fourth in his career, Öncü is now 7th overall with 62 points.

Behind him, Muñoz made a good start from 17th on the grid. The young Spanish rider was able to make up some places during the first laps and, with the first section of the race completed, his feeling improved and he consolidated his position in the group fighting for 16th place. A mistake by a rider ahead of him allowed Muñoz to climb to 15th place and score his first point in the Moto2 World Championship, finishing just 0.052s off 14th place and five seconds outside the Top 10. His result takes him to 28th in the overall standings.

All in all, another great weekend at MotorLand, making eight consecutive podium finishes for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team in the #AragonGP. Red Bull KTM Ajo were the Moto2 top points scorers this weekend and are now on 74, occupying 7th place in the Team standings. The next round of the Moto2 World Championship will be the Italian Grand Prix, held at Mugello on June 20th-22nd.

NIKLAS AJO – Team Manager

“We’re so happy today, with the victory for Deniz. It’s been a long time coming and also part of a season of ups and downs. This weekend, since Friday morning, he performed very maturely and did very well. We’re very happy about this victory and we hope this will be a boost for the future, to find this consistency in every race. As for Dani, I have to say that I’ve been impressed with him. He showed that even at his young age, he’s been constantly improving session by session and without making mistakes. Today he achieved his first World Championship point, so we’re very happy with what he did.”

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“Winning here is amazing. I had been struggling a lot for the last two race weekends, because we were fast but we weren’t capable of putting it all together during the full three days. Here, in Aragon, things went differently. I can’t believe what we achieved today. This is a dream come true for me. We have worked step by step since I was a child; I dreamed of being part of this team someday, and what we achieved today is something special for me. I won by just 3 thousandths of a second, but it was a great race in all aspects. I’m so thankful to everyone who believed in me. Not all of the days leading up to this were good, but there’s a lot of people behind this and I can only say thank you to them. Fortunately, we overcame all these difficult moments, so now we want to try to keep this up during the next few races. This has been amazing.”

#17 DANI MUÑOZ

“It was a tough race from the start. We started from a difficult position, but we managed to get into the groove as the laps went by. The pace was very good, and we’re satisfied with the race we had. We were also able to score my first point in the class, which was our goal for today, so I’m very happy with how the weekend went and how we managed to finish it. I want to thank the team -who have been very good to me- for the opportunity, and I will keep working so we can get more chances in the future.”

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rookie claims third place at MotorLand. Jose Antonio Rueda earn eight points after a battle on the final lap.

Alvaro Carpe took his second podium as a Moto3 rider in the Aragon Grand Prix. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rookie was able to perfectly manage his tyre wear to fight for the win, eventually finishing third at MotorLand. With this result, he is only one point away from third place in the overall standings. Jose Antonio Rueda led the field for two-thirds of the race, but tyre wear meant he only managed to finish eighth.

Carpe moved up to third during the opening laps of the race, and whilst the leading four riders broke away, he led the chasing pack in an attempt to reconnect with them. After they managed this, the group again consisted of ten riders, with Carpe consistently in the top Top 8. Preferring to conserve his tyres and wait until the final stretch to attack, he slotted into sixth, behind his teammate, and took advantage of his mistake to rise to fourth. After overtaking Luca Lunetta in the third sector to move into third, he gained an advantage of a few metres on the back straight to secure his second podium as a Moto3 rider. With this result, Carpe now has 85 points and remains fourth in the overall standings.

Rueda made an ideal start, taking the holeshot and beginning to exert his pace. With the first lap completed, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider managed to open up a small gap over the fourth-placed rider, until the group behind were able to latch back onto them. It wasn’t until lap 12 that Luca Lunetta and David Muñoz attacked Rueda for the first time, which dropped him to fourth place in the space of just two sectors. Running sixth until the final lap, he attempted to make a move at Turn 1, before a small problem nearly caused him to crash, relegating him to ninth. Despite pushing hard in the final sectors, Rueda was only able to recover one position, eventually finishing eighth. With an additional eight points, Rueda remains the leader of the overall standings, with a 52-point advantage.

With a very competitive race and a crazy ending, Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 team are still top of the Rider and Rookie of the Year standings, as well as the Teams series with an 88-point advantage. The ninth round of the Moto3 World Championship will be the Italian Grand Prix, at Mugello from June 20th-22nd.

NIKLAS AJO – Team Manager

“Overall, we had a very good weekend here at MotorLand. Both riders worked very well during the Practices and also in Qualifying. Of course, today in the race we had mixed fortunes. Alvaro had a very good race, showing he is getting more mature all the time and gaining experience, so we’re sure that he will fight for victories if he continues like this. Jose Antonio also had a good race, but unfortunately, he pushed so much in the first part of the race and he had less tyres for the last laps. He made a small mistake at the end, but we’ve still got to be happy overall with him and his work here at MotorLand.”

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“I felt good today. The work from this weekend paid off in terms of pace, but we couldn’t finish it off in the final stretch. I tried to get off to a good start, but I couldn’t break away today. The final laps were typical of Moto3; it was difficult to control the situation, but we were ready to fight. It’s a shame about the small mistake at Turn 1 on the last lap, as it cost me a few positions. We were able to make up some ground in the final sectors, but it wasn’t enough. We’re satisfied because it was a good weekend and we took important points for the championship. This is the first race I’ve finished without being on the podium, so it’s also important to learn from these Sundays and take the positives away.”

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“It was a crazy race. I didn’t expect the pack to be so big, so it was quite difficult at the start. Fortunately, we were able to save our tyres very well and wait for the right moment to attack. I took the first stage of the race calmly, which allowed me to analyse my rivals, and we came into the end with our tyres in perfect condition to fight for the podium. This is a result that helps us continue to improve, so we’re very happy with this home Grand Prix. We’ve been working hard and it’s starting to pay off, so it’s time to continue in the same way in the coming weekends.”