Red Bull KTM Ajo rider has chance to win Moto3 World Championship at final race of the year. Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Arthur Sissis will attempt to round off the year in the best way possible.

Seven months on from the start of the season in Qatar, the Moto3 World Championship arrives in Valencia for the grand finale this weekend. Luis Salom comes into round 17 as the leader of the standings, with a 2-point advantage over Maverick Viñales and a 5-point berth over Alex Rins. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider will be looking for the win that would seal his first ever world title, and Red Bull KTM Ajo’s second successive honour. Teammates Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Arthur Sissis will be out for the best results possible at a track with which they are very familiar.

After an unfortunate race in Japan, Salom is focused on Valencia, where everything will be decided. The track is a favourite of the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider, who needs to either win the race or maintain his advantage of 2 points over Maverick Viñales and 5 over Alex Rins —except in the event of Rins winning the race. With 300 points to his name, seven wins and a further five podiums, he wants to round off the season in style.

Zulfahmi Khairuddin crashed out at the Japanese round, but the Ricardo Tormo circuit is an ideal track for him to bounce back. It was there where he took his most recent podium, claiming third place last year. He has 65 points overall, and is 3 off the top ten.

Arthur Sissis is targeting a race finish inside the top seven to put the flyaways behind him. Fifteenth with 59 points in the World Championship, the Australian will look to add further points to his tally and improve his only previous Valencian GP result of 19th.

Circuit information – Ricardo Tormo
Length: 4.005 m / 2.489 miles
Width: 12 metres
Left corners: 9
Right corners: 5
Longest straight: 876 m / 0.544 miles
Constructed: 1999

Luis Salom,
“I am looking forward to this last round of the championship, which once again will be contested in front of my home fans. Three riders are fighting for the title, so it will be a unique race. I’m very happy with the season we have had and I want to sign off from the Moto3 class in the best way possible. I’ve learned a lot from each of the members of this team and I am very grateful, and I hope we have a good weekend. I know the path we should follow because this season we have done the business on many occasions, making the most of every lap each weekend. Additionally, I am fortunate that Ricardo Tormo is a circuit I like a lot.”

Arthur Sissis,
“I am excited about this GP because it is the last of the season and it is always good to go into the holiday with a good result. The Ricardo Tormo circuit is not one of my favorite tracks, although it is a track where we’ve undertaken many laps. For some reason or other, whether it be knocks in Sepang and Phillip Island or bad weather in Motegi, I had no luck on the flyaways and I could not get into the points. For this race I will not be satisfied with just scoring some points, as the goal should be to enter among the top seven; that would be a good way to end this season.”

Zulfahmi Khairuddin,
“The Ricardo Tormo Circuit is one of the most special on the calendar, we do a lot of testing here in preseason and it is one of the places where we ride the most. It’s practically a home race, because everybody knows every corner to the millimetre. I hope to repeat the result of last year –my second world championship podium– and with a little luck we will have good weather. It will be an interesting race.”