Can rises to challenge on Silverstone debut to finish a tough race
25/08/2019The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider completed the 12th round of the season, the British Grand Prix, in 24th position.
Can Öncü continued his forward trajectory on Sunday at Silverstone, honing his race craft at another new circuit for him and completing the British Grand Prix in a hard-earned 24th position. The Turkish talent had to maintain his focus riding alone – a demanding task at the longest circuit on the World Championship calendar.
The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 youngster made a good start to the contest, holding onto 25th spot off the grid. Can Öncü stayed with the group early in the race, striving to make his way up the order. However, as the laps went by, he lost contact with the riders ahead of him. The 16-year-old continued to push, riding alone, and ultimately crossed the finish line in 24th place.
The Moto3 World Championship will travel to Misano in less than two weeks, where the San Marino Grand Prix will take place from 13th to 15th September.
Results (Moto3 Race)
1. Marcos Ramirez (Honda) 37:50.443
2. Tony Arbolino (Honda) +0.240
3. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Honda) +0.374
4. Niccolo Antonelli (Honda) +0.425
5. Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda) +0.495
24. Can Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +27.836
Moto3 World Championship Standing 2019
1. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Honda) 171 points
2. Aron Canet (KTM) 157 points
3. Tony Arbolino (Honda) 133 points
4. Niccolo Antonelli (Honda) 118 points
5. Marcos Ramirez (Honda) 114 points
28. Can Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 4 points
Aki Ajo – Team manager
“It was a hard weekend for Can [Öncü]. It’s not an easy circuit when you first come here. It’s a beautiful track, especially with the resurfacing they did, but on the other hand it’s very demanding for rookies. What we can say is that Can has gained further experience throughout the weekend.”
61 CAN ÖNCÜ
“It hasn’t been my best race. I gave it my all, as always, but this time things didn’t go as we would have liked. We must stay positive and keep working really hard until the end of the season, just as we’ve been doing in every race so far. Now we have Misano and Aragon, which are circuits that I like, so we’ll see what happens in the next Grands Prix.”