Can Öncü takes first point to kick off Moto3 Junior World Championship at Estoril, bouncing back from a crash. Deniz Öncü also crashes, when leading the race.

Can and Deniz Öncü made their FIM CEV debuts this weekend at Estoril in Portugal, as the Moto3 Junior World Championship got underway. The Turkish twins had a positive weekend, although they experienced misfortune in Sunday’s race. Both led the contest, but crashes for the pair in the opening stages meant they finished 15th and 24th, respectively.

On their first visit to Estoril, the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders had to contend with all kinds of weather conditions during the weekend. In a dry qualifying session, the Deniz earned a spot on the front row with a third position, whilst Can was on row 3 in seventh.

The 17-lap race was contested on an almost completely dry track. Deniz got a good start, but fell on the opening lap when in the lead. His brother would also go down, after he had taken over at the front on the first lap. Both continued in the race, and Can’s pace -combined with crashes for other riders- took him back into the points with a 15th place. Deniz completed the season opener in 24th.

Satisfied with their work and with lessons learned, the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders hope to get results to match their efforts when the series hits Valencia on April 29th, for a two-race round. 

Race Results
1. Manuel Pagliani (Honda) 31:05.396
2. Raul Fernandez (KTM) +0.199
3. Vicente Perez (KTM) +1.353
4. Yuki Kunii (Honda) +1.161
5. Marc Garcia (KTM) +1.950
15. Can Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +29.368
24. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +1:12.085

Moto3 Junior World Championship Standing 2018
1. Manuel Pagliani (Honda) 25 points
2. Raul Fernandez (KTM) 20 points
3. Vicente Perez (KTM) 16 points
4. Yuki Kunii (Honda) 13 points
5. Marc Garcia (KTM) 11 points
15. Can Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1 point
24. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – 

  53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ
“Its the first race of the year, and the first lesson learned. I think that this race at Estoril will be useful for me in terms of gaining experience. It was my first time here and I liked the track, although the weather wasn’t very good at all  I felt very comfortable with the KTM and that allowed us to get onto the front row -and be up there at the start of the race. I’m only thinking about Valencia now, and about how we can come back from the end result from today.”

 

 61 CAN ÖNCÜ
“Fortunately I’m not in any pain after the crash. I’m happy with how the weekend went in general, and it’s just a pity about the crash. It was my mistake. I went off-line because of the wind and hit a damp patch, which sent me down. I’m also satisfied with how I was able to pick the bike back up and get a point, which I think will be very useful at the end of the year. Now we have to focus on the next round.  We were able to measure ourselves against out rivals for this year and I think, with some good work, we can fight at the front consistently.”