Pedro Acosta places third in the Japanese Grand Prix, with teammate Albert Arenas eighteenth.

This Sunday, the Japanese Grand Prix race was held at Mobility Resort Motegi. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders faced a demanding race, in which Pedro Acosta finished in third position, taking his third podium of the year. Albert Arenas tried to gain positions and placed eighteenth.

After starting the race from the second row of the grid, Acosta was clipped early on and dropped to sixth place. The current Moto2 World Championship leader quickly increased the pace and was able to climb to third position in the space of just a few laps. Acosta maintained a consistent pace on the Japanese circuit and did not want to take excessive risks, securing important points. He crossed the finish line in third position, finishing on the podium for the third consecutive race and the eleventh time this season. He increases his lead in the title fight to 50 points.

Albert Arenas started the race 20th, which forced him to make a comeback from the start. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider faced a demanding race in which the field was progressively stretched out. The Spanish rider tried to increase the pace and began to close the gap, with the points zone as his target. After the first half of the race, Arenas managed to reach the sixteenth position although in the final stretch he went down to 18th, where he took the chequered flag. Arenas has 61 points and is fourteenth in the overall standings.

The next race for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 duo is in 2 weeks in Indonesia, from October 13-15th.

Aki Ajo – Team Manager

“Once again Pedro had a really strong race. We need to be really happy about third position and a good showing. Of course, it is so important to get points in every race. Pedro has learned very well that we don’t need to fight for the win every time; we need to read the situation, look at the starting position and evaluate how the feeling is during the weekend. We were already saying before the race that it was really important to survive the first laps and use our pace to finish as high as possible. He did a very professional and clever job, Albert definitely took a step forward during the weekend. After the injury it was not the easiest time for him, but he was able to push more, and especially in practice he showed a really good pace. Unfortunately in the race we could not do exactly the same, but in any case we finished the race and he is recovering. Every weekend we are getting stronger and stronger.”

#37 PEDRO ACOSTA

“I didn’t get a good start due to being clipped and I lost time on the first lap. This hindered us a bit, since we weren’t able to make up the distance to those at the front. It’s still a positive result because we leave Japan with a podium. It is always positive to continue adding points, and even more so on a weekend that did not go entirely as we wanted, but we were still able to be competitive. We will continue working to improve at the next race in Indonesia.”

#75 ALBERT ARENAS

“It was tough race in Japan. It was a challenging weekend and we knew it would be beforehand, but we made good progress -although today the race didn’t go as I had wanted. We found some pace and we also worked hard to be in contention. We will take away the positives, and it will help us to face the coming races.”

Jose Antonio Rueda finishes tenth at Motegi. Deniz Öncü suffers a crash when fighting for the podium.

There was a bittersweet ending for Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 team at the Japanese Grand Prix. Deniz Öncü crashed out when in the podium positions and after leading for much of the race, whilst Jose Antonio Rueda climbed positions to finish tenth.

Deniz Öncü started the Moto3 race from the front row of the grid. The Turkish rider made a great start that allowed him to take the lead. He tried to increase the advantage over his rivals, although the pace of the contest was very high. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider dropped to third position and remained in the podium spots, fighting hard with his rivals to secure the place. However, a crash with 6 laps remaining deprived Öncü of the rostrum. With 147 points, he remains fifth in the overall standings.

Jose Antonio Rueda was forced to make up ground after starting from the fifth row. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider lost some places off the line, but was to increase the pace and feel comfortable while moving up through the main group. After the first half of the race, he was in the points, going on to cross the finish line in tenth position. He is now eighth in the standings with 100 points.

The next round for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 team will be the Indonesian Grand Prix, held from October 13-15th at the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit.

Aki Ajo – Team Manager

“It was not our best race in Moto3, even though the weekend started quite well and both riders found a good pace and prepared well. Unfortunately after a tight fight and a good pace at the front, Deniz made a mistake and crashed out. We are disappointed about that but this hasn’t happen to us many times this year. Sometimes mistakes happen and we need to be positive and look forward to the six remaining races. Jose Antonio’s starting position wasn’t the best but we are happy with his second half of the race, as he was able to fight hard and finish in the Top 10. This was a good lesson and a good experience to learn race by race.”

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“The Japanese GP is done. We handled the weekend well and we knew that the race would be so hard. In the end I was able to lead the race for most of the laps. When the other riders started to fight I pushed more and I crash unexpectedly. I didn’t have time to react in the moment. I tried to brake more on the corners because of my lack of acceleration, due to my size. Both the team and I will come back stronger at the next race.”

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“The race has been very fast from the beginning. I didn’t feel very comfortable, but I’m happy because we finished in the Top 10 again at a circuit we didn’t know. From the beginning the others started pushing very hard and I couldn’t latch onto the front group. I don’t think it was a bad result, as we have continued adding points and at the next race we want to continue in the same way. Many thanks to the team for all their work during these two races.”

Results (Race)

1. Jaume Masia (Honda) 33’30.018

2. Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) +1.546

3. Daniel Holgado (KTM) +1.602

4. Stefano Nepa (KTM) +5.200

5. Ivan Ortolá (KTM) +5.230

10. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +9.734

DNF. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo)

Moto3 World Championship Standing 2023

1. Jaume Masia (Honda) 199 points

2. Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) 193 points

3. Daniel Holgado (KTM) 190 points

4. David Alonso (GasGas) 160 points

5. Deniz Öncü (KTM) 147 points

8. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 100 points

Moto3 Teams World Championship Standing 2023

1. Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intanct GP 256 points

2. Leopard Racing 249 points

3. Red Bull KTM Ajo 247 points

4. Angeluss MTA Team 235 points

5. Gaviota GasGas Aspar Team 222 points