No happy ending for Deniz Öncü and Ayumu Sasaki despite strong fight in Jerez

Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Moto3 duo of Deniz Öncü and Ayumu Sasaki delivered a strong display in today’s Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía, but both unfortunately, didn’t have the chance to earn their deserved laurels.

On his 17th birthday, Öncü started the second round at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto well from P14 on the grid to battle with the leading group throughout two thirds of the race. He even managed to reach the seventh position around halfway, but lost ground towards the end and unluckily went down with just four laps to go.

At the same time, Sasaki was just a few positions behind his teammate from the start, eager to stick with the front group and fighting for what could have been a possible top 10 result, he got taken out by another rider on the eighth lap. The Japanese youngster managed to jump on his KTM again and continued the race from the back of the field, but came in after 16 laps.

Deniz Öncü

“Today we actually did another step compared to yesterday, which was good, because we could improve with each day. The Warm Up this morning was pretty good, so I felt ready for the race. I was quite nervous at the start, but it was ok. At the start, I did a few mistakes and had one moment with another rider, which I could save, but I lost some positions. The race overall was good for me, because I was there and I could fight with the top guys. With four laps to go, another rider hit me in turn five and I tried to control it with the rear brake, but it was impossible. So, I just flew and the race ended early for me. Anyway, I’m quite happy about our improvement, because I saw I can be with the top. I still need to continue working. A huge thanks to my team, as they are working very hard and they prepared me a really good bike!”

Ayumu Sasaki

“Today we unfortunately crashed out in turn one. I was caught by another rider, so it wasn’t my mistake, but this can happen in racing. We choose the hard tyre to race again this week. In the beginning of the race, I was trying not to lose too many positions, keep calm and stay there. I knew that from the middle of the race, I would have the pace to come back. Last week around halftime I was P19 or P20, so this time I was in a place, which was a lot closer and only two seconds to the front, so I thought I can stay and for sure later I have the chance to fight back. Vietti, who finished third, was just in front of me with a hard tyre at that point. So, I was expecting to be in the front at the end, but I crashed quite early, so we don’t know where we could end up. Overall, the weekend was positive, we improved many things, I just need to stay focused, the season is short and I’m a bit disappointed that I couldn’t get any points. But I will just continue to work hard and try to catch the front as soon as possible.”