Celestino Vietti finishes in ninth position at Jerez, with Deniz Öncü fourteenth.

The Spanish Grand Prix concluded this Sunday at a packed Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders had a positive race, scoring points in the fourth round of the season. Celestino Vietti was ninth and Deniz Öncü fourteenth, his best result in Moto2.

Vietti was seventh on the grid, thanks to his best qualifying result so far this season. The Italian did not get off the line well, however, and lost several positions. Vietti could not find a good feeling initially and fought to stay in the points, before becoming more comfortable after the halfway mark. He rose to ninth, where he eventually crossed the line. His latest Top 10 finish takes him to ninth overall in Moto2, with 29 points.

Öncü started the race a little far back after failing to get out of Q1 on Saturday. The Turkish Ajo rider progressively moved up the order in a packed field at Jerez, targeting a position in the points. His feeling improved with each lap, and the Moto2 rookie would rise to 14th place thanks to an overtake on an intense final lap. It was his best result since his debut in the class. He is 19th in the overall standings, with 3 points.

The French Grand Prix is next for the Red Bull KTM Ajo team, and will be held from May 10-12th at Le Mans.

Aki Ajo – Team Manager

“In Moto2 we are still in this process of understanding and developing our new package, like many other teams and riders. Even though the final results in the race were not as expected, in my opinion it was a very positive weekend. The plus is that we will continue testing on Tuesday here in Jerez. We feel that we have gathered a lot of information and gained more understanding of the technical setup for our package.”

#13 CELESTINO VIETTI

“I am not 100% happy because I was hoping to do it a bit better, especially after the really good job done by the team. I don’t know why, but at the beginning I struggled a bit too much and I lost lots of positions. From the middle to the end of the race we were fast, but it was not enough. I need to focus on improving my performance in the first part of the race, in order to be more consistent. Thank you to all the team for all their hard work this weekend.”

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“That’s the fourth round of the season done. This is the second race in which I have got into the points, so I’m very happy. We are always working to improve my adaptation to the bike and the class, and to adapt my riding style to the bike, because we are still learning. We are in a better mood now, we are optimistic because we have found the right way of working. We will take away the positive that we got 2 points today. We will keep working and I want to thank all the team.”

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 duo finish 16th and 22nd, respectively.

Vicente Perez was just outside the points after gaining several positions and placing 16th. Xabi Zurutuza suffered from a lack of feeling and was 22nd.

Perez started the race from the back of the grid. The stand-in rider made a good start and began to make up positions on the opening laps, taking advantage of the fact that the group was very closely packed. He maintained a consistent pace and felt very comfortable, despite having hardly had time to work with his team over the weekend. The Spaniard demonstrated his perseverance, going on to take the chequered flag 16th, just outside the points. With 2 points, he is 22nd in the overall standings.

Zurutuza did not have his best day at Jerez. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider started from 26th, maintaining his position off the line. Whilst he gained places early on, a lack of feeling prevented him from taking greater strides. The Moto3 rookie nevertheless gained pace and experience in the class, finishing 22nd. After the Spanish GP, Zurutuza is 21st in the overall standings with 3 points.

Next on the calendar is the French Grand Prix, which will be held from May 10-12th at Le Mans.

Aki Ajo – Team Manager

“This was quite a challenging weekend for us in Moto3, as we were prepared to have Jose Antonio back for this race and in good condition. He had been recovering well from the appendicitis surgery he underwent in Austin, but unfortunately he had an intestinal problem again on Thursday night and has been in the hospital since then. Fortunately, it seems that he is better now, but he is still under observation in the hospital. Xabi had another race weekend experience for his rookie season, and even though we were in Spain this Grand Prix is not the easiest. Of course, the weather conditions didn’t make it easier, as yesterday there was a wet practice. We will continue to work hard in the test on Tuesday to understand this class more and improve our performance. Our replacement rider Vicente Perez was doing a good job, although it was not easy for him to jump on the bike on Saturday morning. We want to thank him once again for his good job this weekend.”

#85 XABI ZURUTUZA

“It was a difficult race from the beginning. I didn’t feel comfortable with the feeling on the bike from the first lap. It was a long race in which we were able to gather a lot of information for Tuesday’s Test here. There, we will have an opportunity to try out different things for the future, for Montmeló and France, and to be able to improve. I’m really looking forward to Tuesday.”

#21 VICENTE PEREZ

“It was a difficult race for me, since I pushed my body to the limit and I need to get used to that. I felt much better than yesterday. For what was our first few minutes on the track, we did a good job. We had a lot of potential and I think we could have fought for the podium if we had ridden on Friday. I’m grateful to the team and for the chance to be able to work with everyone again. I thank Aki and the rest of the team for the opportunity. Let’s see if we see each other again and I wish Rueda a good recovery.”