Fourteenth place for Veijer at home Grand Prix
29/06/2025The Dutchman was able to finish a survival race with a lot of incidents. His teammate, Öncü, crashes while running fifth.
There was a bittersweet Sunday for Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 at the Dutch TT, as they scored points through Collin Veijer but Deniz Öncü came away empty handed. Veijer climbed eight places to score two points on raceday, whilst his teammate crashed out of the race with nine laps remaining after his best start of the season, moving from 10th to third in just one lap.
There were great starts from both Red Bull KTM Ajo riders, who made up six and five positions, respectively, to move into 4th and 17th during the opening lap.
Veijer rose into the Top 15, although the strong pace at the front quickly stretched the field, causing the young Dutchman to struggle to stay in the fight for points. In the second half of the race, taking additional risks on a crash-filled Sunday, Veijer climbed the ranks, moving up to 15th on the penultimate lap. He then overtook Ayumu Sasaki at the final corner, giving him 14th place at his home race and enabling him to score points for the fourth time this season. He now has 13 points in total, placing him 20th in the overall standings.
Öncü went unrewarded for a solid race. The Turkish rider made one of his best starts this season, gaining six places before reaching the first corner, and was up into fourth. He waited patiently to attack Ivan Ortola and move into third, but as the laps passed, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider was left in no man’s land, as Diogo Moreira and Aron Canet began to pull away ahead of him and those behind held each other up. Unfortunately, tyre wear forced Öncü to drop back during the second half of the race, and he was engulfed by the chasing pack. Manu Gonzalez and Joe Roberts caught up with him, and, under pressure, he crashed at the last turn. He was unable to remount, having to retire with nine laps remaining. Öncü remains on 72 points, occupying eighth place overall.
The Moto2 World Championship heads to the Sachsenring on July 11-13th, for the German Grand Prix. There, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team will try to get back to winning ways with its two riders, who will once again take on two consecutive Grands Prix: Germany and the Czech Republic.
Race Results
1. Diogo Moreira (Kalex) | 35:24.852
2. Aron Canet (Kalex) | +0.056
3. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | +1.783
4. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) | +2.364
5. Joe Roberts (Kalex) | +3.212
14. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | +23.656
DNF. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | +9 laps
Moto2 World Championship Standing 2025
1. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 159 points
2. Aron Canet (Kalex) | 154 points
3. Diogo Moreira (Kalex) | 128 points
4. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) | 98 points
5. Barry Baltus (Kalex) | 94 points
8. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 72 points
20. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 13 points
Moto2 Teams World Championship Standing 2025
1. Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO | 248 points
2. Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP | 246 points
3. ELF Marc VDS Racing Team | 150 points
4. Italtrans Racing Team | 133 points
5. Folladore SpeedRS Team | 126 points
7. Red Bull KTM Ajo | 86 points
NIKLAS AJO – Team Manager
“The weekend was a little bit tricky, especially on the first day. We managed to bounce back on Saturday with a good Qualifying for both riders -especially Deniz, who managed to get through Q1 to Q2 and earn a solid grid position for today. In the race, Deniz made a great start on the first lap, but unfortunately, because of the difficulties we had on Friday, it was difficult to get the required increase in pace to be in the podium fight all race. He made a small mistake, but he had been pushing hard since the beginning and these things can happen sometimes. As for Collin, he got good two points for the championship and a good result at his home round, so step by step he is improving after the injury. We’re looking forward to seeing his progress during the next few races.”
#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ
“Unfortunately, our race finished with a crash. We made a great start and we were fighting with the top riders, but I was pushing too hard and sometimes these things can happen as a result. I gave my all today, and the improvement compared with Friday was huge, so we have to take the positives into the next rounds. Obviously, I made a mistake and I only can say sorry to my team. Now we have time to reset and come back stronger in two weeks time at Sachsenring.”
#95 COLLIN VEIJER
“I’m happy with the points we achieved today in front of my home crowd. There were a lot of crashes during the race, but we managed to stay up, so it’s a positive result. it was not an easy weekend, but we enjoyed it a lot with all these amazing fans, so let’s see what we can do at Sachsenring. We have now a week off, in which we want to prepare as best as possible the next double-header. I’m very motivated after this home Grand Prix, so let’s try to keep this up for Germany and the Czech Republic.”
