Sensational #AustrianGP for Deniz Öncü and Ayumu Sasaki

The Red Bull KTM Tech3 duo of Deniz Öncü and Ayumu Sasaki delivered a breathtaking race today at the Red Bull Ring, fighting for the podium and even the win in a stunning way, yet they finished in P8 and P14 respectively.

With a great start from 10th on the grid, Öncü quickly made up his way to the front of the field and was leading the race for several sectors on many laps. Towards the end of his spectacular 23 laps race, he fought with a many contenders, who have a lot more experience under their belt and eventually saw the flag in 8th position.

Likewise, Sasaki, who came from the 6th row of the grid, made up a lot of ground in the first half of the race to catch up with the front. Being in second position he had to swallow a long lap penalty due to exceeding track limits with three laps to go, which put him back to 21st. With a strong effort, he did his fastest time on the lap and finally managed to secure three points on the line

Deniz Öncü

“Already in the Warm Up, I had a good pace. I was confident for the race and felt very strong. At the start of the race, I already overtook one or two riders, but I wanted to go to the front. So, I passed, passed, passed and when I arrived in P1, I thought ‘Wow, that was great’ and I was very happy. Later, the other riders tried to overtake me again, there were some laps, where we swapped positions quickly, but then I understood that they are not faster than me, so I passed again and just wanted to be first. In the last laps, there was a big mess. I couldn’t finish on the podium, but for this race my target was a top 10 and I did with eighth. I’m happy about the result and next week I will try again.”

Ayumu Sasaki

“Today I had an incredible race! I think it was my best race in the World Championship so far. I had a great feeling with the bike, the team did an amazing job and I felt good from the first lap, so I tried to catch the front. I knew that it’s a big group, I tried to manage my position and tried to pass as many riders as I can. On the last five laps, I arrived at the front and tried to push, catching up. With five laps to go, I was in P1, so I thought ‘Now it’s time to calm down and try to fight for the last lap’. But then I got the long lap penalty. I still don’t know why, so we need to check for that. About our race, we did a fantastic job and even after the long lap, I managed to pass six or seven riders in two laps and we finished inside the points. Yes, it’s important to finish inside the points and I think the pace was faster than the one from the winner. I guess, we have to be proud on that. The lucky thing is, that we have one more race here next week. We will for sure try to fight for the podium again.”