The Turkish rider finishes the race in eighteenth position. Celestino Vietti suffers a crash on the final laps when fighting for the podium.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders had an intense race at the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday. Celestino Vietti was unable to finish after suffering a crash when battling for the podium. Deniz Öncü fought for points in a difficult contest, and crossed the finish line in eighteenth.

Vietti started his home Grand Prix from the front row of the grid, and dropped to fourth off the line. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider tried to stay as close as possible to the Top 3, balancing his ambition with optimal tyre management. On the final laps, the Italian managed to close the gap to fight for the podium in front of his home fans. However after having managed to cut almost a second, he unfortunately suffered a crash with three laps remaining, when riding in fourth position.

Öncü did not have the weekend he had hoped for, after the great progress made over the last few rounds. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider faced a very demanding race due to the high temperatures and tyre wear, which forced him to establish a good strategy. He steadily fell down the order, eventually moving out of the points and coming in eighteenth.

The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli now hosts the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, from September 20th-22nd.

Moto2 Results Race:
1. Ai Ogura (Boscoscuro) 35:26.583
2. Aron Canet (Kalex) +0.609
3. Tony Arbolino (Kalex) +4.639
4. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) +6.948
5. Jake Dixon (Kalex) +10.863
19. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +26.807
DNF. Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo)

Moto2 World Championship Standing 2024
1. Ai Ogura (Boscoscuro) 175 points
2. Sergio Garcia (Boscoscuro) 166 points
3. Joe Roberts (Kalex) 133 points
4. Alonso Lopez (Boscoscuro) 133 points
5. Jake Dixon (Kalex) 130 points
9. Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 102 points
19. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 27 points

Moto2 Teams World Championship Standing 2024
1. MT Helmets MSI – 341 points
2. Beta Tools SpeedUp – 255 points
3. OnlyFans American Racing Team – 198 points
4. QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 – 178 points
5. CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team – 155 points
7.  Red Bull KTM Ajo – 129 points

Aki Ajo – Team Manager

“In Moto2 it was not an easy day today. Of course we expected more, especially that Celestino could fight for the top positions. He again showed his skills, especially at the end of the race with used tyres, and he managed things well before. He was able to catch the front group towards the end of the race, but unfortunately he made a small mistake and crashed when he was behind the Top 3. The positive thing in general in Moto2, and also in Cele’s case, is that we are improving and understanding things race by race. Of course, we are confident that we will fight for the top positions in the next few races as well. For Deniz it has not been an easy weekend, especially compared to the last two weekends. They were different tracks and different challenges. We need to always mention that he is still a rookie, and it’s quite normal. Personally, I was expecting a good race from him, after the podium in Aragon. It’s not so easy, but as we know, in Moto2 on a good day you can fight for podiums and on the bad days you can find yourself fighting for the Top 20, even if you are a World Champion. So it’s a good experience, once again, and for sure we will be much stronger when we come back.”

#13 CELESTINO VIETTI

“I feel a bit disappointed, because after the practice sessions I felt very good, and also in the race. Maybe following all the riders made my tyre temperature go higher and higher, but I had a good feeling. Anyway, that’s racing. We have another opportunity here in 15 days’ time, so we have to focus on this and continue working.”

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“Today we had a very hard race. Yesterday in qualifying we struggled also, especially at this small circuit, where it is very hard to pass riders and get to the front. I had an extra something up my sleeve that I could have used if I had qualified better, in order to fight with the stronger riders for the podium. We had a rough time during the race, but the positive is that we have learnt from it. Next week we will try to manage things better and hopefully we will be able to perform better than this weekend. We will work harder and better.”