The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider finishes ninth, while Xabi Zurutuza suffers a crash on the opening laps.

The British GP ended on Sunday with a tough race, in which Jose Antonio Rueda and Xabi Zurutuza were forced to move their way up the order. Rueda was ninth, while Zurutuza suffered a crash after 6 laps that led to his retirement.

Rueda started the race from tenth position on the grid. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider lost a few positions off the line, but remained in the leading group, going on to increase his pace and make it into the Top 10. In a fast Moto3 contest, despite not having the best feeling on race day, Rueda was able to stay in the front group and was involved in an intense fight until crossing the finish line in ninth position.

Zurutuza had one of his strongest weekends of the season, improving session after session, and starting the race from fourteenth place -one of his best qualifying performances since his debut. The Moto3 rookie also dropped down the order early on, and got back into the points before a crash at Turn 11, just six laps in, ended his day prematurely.

Next up for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 duo is the Austrian Grand Prix, which will be held at the Red Bull Ring from August 15-18.

Moto3 World Championship Standing 2024
1. David Alonso (CFMOTO) 199 points
2. Ivan Ortola (KTM) 146 points
3. Daniel Holgado (GasGas) 133 points
4. Collin Veijer (Husqvarna) 131 points
5. David Muñoz (KTM) 88 points
8. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 65 points
22. Xabi Zurutuza (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 3 points

Moto3 Teams World Championship Standing 2024
1. CFMoto Valresa Aspar Team – 240 points
2. MT Helmets MSI – 228 points
3. Red Bull GasGas Tech3 –177 points
4. Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP – 175 points
5. BOE Motorsports – 152 points
7. Red Bull KTM Ajo – 71 points

Moto3 RACE Results
1. Ivan Ortola (KTM) 32:42.328
2. David Alonso (CFMOTO) +0.123
3. Collin Veijer (Husqvarna) +0.226
4. Daniel Holgado (GasGas) +0.333
5. Stefano Nepa (KTM) +0.397
9. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +1.431
DNF. Xabi Zurutuza (Red Bull KTM Ajo)

Aki Ajo – Team Manager
“With Jose Antonio we didn’t find our best form the whole weekend, compared to the last few races. We need to analyse what happened, as we improved practice by practice but in the race we didn’t have the expected performance. We could say that we are not completely happy about the result as we feel that we should be able to fight for the podium at every race. We will try to get to Red Bull Ring strong and motivated. Xabi had a positive weekend from the beginning, as this track is really challenging and it was his first time here. He got into Q2 and had a good starting position. The race didn’t get underway very well for him and he crashed, but in any case it was a good experience for him for the future. Next week we will be testing in Aragon, so we feel that we can prepare even better for the Austrian GP.”

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“We ended the weekend in a bittersweet way. We struggled all weekend, but session by session we improved and prepared the bike for the race. Today we got off to a good start, but I was a few tenths short of catching up with the guys in front and being able to fight with them. We have learned a lot and we need to improve, especially in races where there are big groups, so that in the coming races we can fight for the podium again. We are positive because we know where to improve. We are heading to Austria with great enthusiasm, as it’s a totally different circuit and we will have to do our best.”

#85 XABI ZURUTUZA

“The Silverstone GP ended in an unexpected way due to the crash and the bad start. The positive side is that at the beginning of the race I felt fast, with good lap times. Despite the bad taste left in our mouths, we are going to Austria focusing on our good race pace. It is time to learn and continue working hard.”