The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider climbs 15 places and finishes eighth, after suffering a crash on Lap 3. Jaume Masia’s race comes to a premature end when riding fourth.

The French Grand Prix saw a fantastic performance by Pedro Acosta who, after crashing at the start of the race, climbed 15 positions to finish eighth. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rookie pushed on in a tricky contest held in wet at the beginning and mixed conditions by the end, hunting down his rivals to claim points at the chequered flag. Teammate Jaume Masia had a tough day, crashing on Lap 3 and not being able to re-join the GP.

Acosta got off the line well from the seventh row of the grid, moving up from 21st place to tenth on Lap 1. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rookie latched onto the leading group and continued to overtake rivals very cautiously, due to the difficult conditions, but fell going into Turn 3 when in seventh. The Spaniard remounted in 23rd position and began another spectacular comeback, overtaking 15 riders to finish the race eighth.

Masia started the French Grand Prix well from the front row and took the lead at the second, although he dropped back shortly after to minimise risks. Unfortunately, at Turn 14 of Lap 2, the Spaniard crashed when up into fourth position, retiring early from the contest.

Following the fifth round of the 2021 season, Pedro Acosta maintains his lead in the overall standings with 103 points. Jaume Masia is 7th with 39. Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 will return to action at the Italian Grand Prix, which will take place from May 28-30th.

Results (Moto3 Race)

1. Sergio Garcia (GasGas) 42:21.172
2. Filip Salac (Honda) +2.349
3. Riccardo Rossi (KTM) +5.589
4. John McPhee (Honda) +7.158
5. Ayumu Sasaki (KTM) +14.882
8. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +29.880
DNF. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo)

Moto3 World Championship Standing 2021

1. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 103 points
2. Sergio Garcia (GasGas) 49 points
3. Andrea Migno (Honda) 47 points
4. Romano Fenati (Husqvarna) 46 points
5. Niccolo Antonelli (KTM) 44 points
7. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 39 points

AKI AJO – TEAM MANAGER 

“We have mixed feelings about the Moto3 race. It was a challenging weekend at Le Mans, so we have to be happy with Pedro [Acosta]’s result. He made a small mistake that, with the state the track was in, is very easy to make. However, he was able to continue and managed the contest well and took as many points as possible. We must remember that it was also his first time at this circuit. It’s a shame that Jaume [Masia] fell so early on, because he was in a good position. However, on wet asphalt it is something that can happen easily. He has to be positive, despite his bad luck. He has to keep working because there is a long way to go this season.”

5 JAUME MASIA

“I’m a bit down about what happened today in the contest. However, we have to push forward and keep working hard, as there are still many races to go. If we make the same effort as we did so far, good things will end up coming our way. At Mugello we will try again.”

37 PEDRO ACOSTA

“In the warm-up we had the same feeling we had riding in the wet yesterday. We knew that it was going to be a tough race, but when we had done the most difficult part, which was to start well, we made a mistake. However, we were able to handle the situation and earned some important points. I want to thank the team because they worked very hard with the various crashes we suffered this weekend.”