The Red Bull KTM Ajo pair of the intermediate class are in Thailand for the opening race at Buriram.

Deniz Öncü and Collin Veijer will contest the first Grand Prix of the 2025 Moto2 World Championship season this weekend. The Red Bull KTM Ajo duo take on their opening challenge in Thailand, which will host Round 1 of a campaign for the first time. The two intermediate class riders arrive confident after a great preseason.

Öncü will start his second season in Moto2 with many eyes on him. He was one of the fastest riders in preseason, especially at the IRTA Test in Jerez. There, he finished the last day among the top five riders and led the way in the final session. The Turkish rider’s best position so far in Buriram is a fifth position in 2023, his last season in Moto3. Last year, as a rookie in Moto2, he achieved a creditable 10th place.

Veijer will have his first full race weekend with a Moto2 bike in Thailand. The Dutch rookie, who turned 20 years old during the IRTA Test in Jerez, makes the step up to Moto2 after only two full seasons in Moto3, but is more than ready to compete. Throughout the winter, he demonstrated his great capacity to improve day after day, finishing the last day in Jerez just over a second off the best time -very close to the Top 20. He has previous podium form in Thailand, having placed third there in Moto3 for the past two seasons.

The first Grand Prix of the year starts this Friday, with the race itself on Sunday at 13:15 local time. Red Bull KTM have previously had two second places -for Brad Binder in 2019 and Pedro Acosta in 2023- and one third place -Miguel Oliveira in 2018- in Buriram.

Circuit information – Chang International Circuit
Length: 4.5km / 2.83 miles
Left corners: 5
Right corners: 7
Longest straight: 1km
Width: 12 m / 39.37 ft.
Built: 2014

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“We are facing the first round of the year. We worked very well during the winter, so we’ll try to start the season in the best possible way. We enjoyed ourselves a lot with the bike during the preseason and we want to keep that up here in Thailand. It won’t be easy to stay at the front, but we have confidence and a lot of motivation to try to do that in this first part of the year.”

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I feel ready and good about the coming weekend in Thailand. We will take everything step by step and build more confidence during the three days. I’m very excited and proud to be with this team and I will work hard to improve every time I go out on track. Let’s see what happens at this first Grand Prix, but for sure we are going to enjoy it a lot from the beginning.”