Red Bull KTM Ajo rider makes a great fightback for his first podium in the FIM CEV, in the only Moto3 race held at the Spanish track this Sunday. Deniz Öncü places seventh, his best result of the season.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo team enjoyed their best weekend of the season so far at the MotorLand Aragon, with their two riders claiming strong results. Can Öncü achieved his first podium in Moto3, while Deniz Öncü crossed the finish line in seventh place, his best result this season so far.

Can Öncü made his rostrum debut with a fightback from the fourth row of the grid. The young Turkish rider moved up to sixth place on Lap 4, leading the chasing pack and cutting the gap to the frontrunners. An incident on Lap 9 caused him some problems, but he got back on track in sixth and continued to hunt down the leaders, catching them with four laps to go. In the final moments of the race, Can Öncü was up into second, and despite coming out of the last corner off the podium, he pushed on the straight to cross the finish line in third.

Deniz Öncü also achieved his best result of the season on Sunday. After some very good practice results on Saturday, he started the race from seventh position, made a good start and was able to maintain his spot throughout the race. 

Can Öncü climbs to 13th in the overall standings with 33 points, while Deniz Öncü is 18th with 20. The FIM CEV takes a break in August and will return on September 29-30th at the Jerez-Angel Nieto Circuit. The Moto3 Junior World Championship will have two races at the next round.

Results (Race)
1. Raul Fernandez (KTM) 30:07:790
2. Jeremy Alcoba (Honda) +0.006
3. Can Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +0.043
4. Ai Ogura (Honda) +0.044
5. Celestino Vietti Ramus (KTM) +0.051
7. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +4.773

Moto3 Junior World Championship
1. Raul Fernandez (KTM) 124 points
2. Manuel Pagliani (Honda) 96 points
3. Jeremy Alcoba (Honda) 83 points
4. Sergio Garcia (Honda) 71 points
5. Aleix Viu (Honda) 60 points
13. Can Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 33 points
18. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 20 points

53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ
“The race was very good, although I didn’t have the same confidence as I had during the practice sessions and the qualifying session. I couldn’t ride the bike the same way, so I knew I had to push more. At the start I gained a place, but I had a small highside and lost the position. I was part of a group for a lot of laps and I made some mistakes that prevented me from advancing, and I finally finished in seventh place. I am happy with the result and I will try to do the best I can at the next round in Jerez.”

61 CAN ÖNCÜ
“I have no words to describe how I’m feeling after my first podium; I’m very happy. The first lap was not very good for me, because I lost several positions and was quite far off the front. After the opening laps I understood that my pace was very good and I started to push and give my all. When I was very close to the first group I made contact with another rider and lost positions, but right before the end I caught them back up and finished third. Thanks to the team for their help during this weekend, they made an amazing job.”