Deniz Öncü dominated the third Moto3 practice session at the Qatar GP, held this Saturday at Losail. The Turkish rider led for most of the session, which saw almost all riders set their best times.

Initially, Romano Fenati (Rivacold Snipers Team/Honda) took the lead. After being overtaken by Vicente Pérez (BOE Motorsports/KTM) and Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo), the experienced Italian regained the top spot on the timesheets.

However, Öncü claimed the lead once again. Although momentarily surpassed by Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) around the 28-minute mark, Öncü secured the session’s top position with two fast laps at the end. David Alonso (Gaviota GasGas Aspar) finished second, improving his time late in the session to be 0.206s slower than Öncü.

Holgado took third place, ahead of the main championship contenders: Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna IntactGP) and the championship leader, Jaume Masiá (Leopard Racing/Honda). Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team/Honda) secured the final direct spot in the second qualifying round in 14th place. Syarifuddin Azman (MT Helmets-MSi/KTM) missed out on this goal by 0.205s, finishing 15th.

Combined standings P1 + P2 + P3:

O conteúdo Clear domination by Deniz Öncü in the third Moto3 practice in Qatar aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Aki Ajo has no doubts about Pedro Acosta’s worth and believes that the current Moto2 champion won’t falter upon entering the premier class in 2024.

The head of Red Bull KTM Ajo told Marca: ‘I believe that in the higher category, it will be the same because, fundamentally, it’s about riding motorcycles. But surely, he will need time, we cannot expect too much at the beginning, but I am sure about Acosta’s objectives, and they are the same as he had when he was in the Moto3 and Moto2 World Championships’.

After three years of working with Acosta, Ajo is convinced of the rider’s potential to succeed in MotoGP: ‘He has a tremendous opportunity to have a great, great career in the MotoGP World Championship. He also realized that he has to learn in this new category, give himself time. In Moto2, in his first year, maybe initially, he didn’t give himself enough time and made mistakes because perhaps the expectations were too high, but they were good for us; we learned a lot from that. When you use those moments, they make you stronger. Acosta is more than prepared’.

O conteúdo ‘Pedro Acosta has a tremendous opportunity to have a great career in MotoGP’ – Aki Ajo aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Deniz Öncü was the fastest in the first practice session of the Moto3 Qatar GP. The session witnessed an exciting duel between the Turkish rider and Jaume Masiá, who traded the lead in a series of fast laps in the final phase.

Initially, Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets-MSi/KTM) led the session, ahead of Xavier Artigas (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) by over a second. The Brazilian held onto his position but was then pursued by Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo), with Kaito Toba (SIC58 Squadra Corsa/Honda) in third.

While Moreira stayed at the top, positions behind him were changing. Joel Kelso (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) came close, trailing Moreira by just three thousandths. Toba displaced Moreira but was soon overtaken by Masiá (Leopard Racing/Honda), who, in turn, was surpassed by Öncü. There were 22 minutes left.

In the last ten minutes, Masiá and Öncü alternated the lead several times, clocking laps in the 2m10s and 2m09s range. Öncü ultimately set the fastest time, beating Masiá by 0.413s. Moreira improved to take third, with Toba in fourth. Syarifuddin Azman (MT Helmets-MSi/KTM) surprised with the fifth fastest time. Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP), Masiá’s main rival in the championship, finished only 26th, 3.411s off the top.

Timesheet:

O conteúdo Deniz Öncü opens Moto3 Qatar GP leading the first practice aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix saw Pedro Acosta become the world champion. His second-place finish in the Sepang race was more than enough for the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider to secure the championship title

In a press conference, the Spaniard said he faced this GP as a normal one, without added pressure: ‘I was trying to not feel the pressure. At the end we have to understand that we were in an easy situation, now the window was more open to achieve the championship. At the end I said on Thursday that if wasn’t here, it would be in Qatar or in Valencia. At the end I approached all the weekend like a normal one, trying to be competitive for the Sunday race’.

Acosta also admitted he tried to ride more with the head in the recent rounds: ‘It’s true that in the last couple of races we were riding more with the head because I think it’s very important for the team to achieve the championship and also to fight for the teams’ title’.

O conteúdo ‘I was trying to not feel the pressure; we were in an easy situation’ – Pedro Acosta aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

This Sunday, Pedro Acosta secured the Moto2 title in just his second season. A second-place finish in the Malaysian Grand Prix was enough to seal the championship with still two rounds to go.

In the interview with the official broadcast, the Spaniard was visibly in poor physical condition, exhausted after an demanding race – he even vomited twice during the conversation. Nevertheless, Acosta shared his first words after becoming the intermediate class champion, stating:

– It sounds so good, it sounds so good! At the end, in the lap I only remembered the bad moments of last year, when I only crashed and I didn’t finish any race for this. I just thanks to all, to all the team, that these two years were super hard – because last year we suffered a lot. Thanks to them. It’s my third season with Ajo Motorsport, and also the last, I don’t want to cry about this today.

O conteúdo ‘At the end, I only remembered the bad moments of last year’ – Pedro Acosta aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Pedro Acosta secured the Moto2 World Championship title this Sunday, becoming the second champion of the year in the MotoGP paddock after Mattia Casadei in MotoE.

It quickly became apparent that the Red Bull KTM Ajo Spanish rider was the strongest contender for the title. His victory in the Portuguese Grand Prix immediately placed him at the top of the championship standings, but a modest 12th place in Argentina dropped him to third. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS/Kalex) took the lead in the World Championship.

The Italian would become Acosta’s main rival, although direct battles between them were rare. In Austin, he retained the lead, which he lost in the Spanish GP. However, the French GP was the highlight of the season for Arbolino: he won the race, saw Acosta retire, and took the lead with a 15-point advantage.

That was also the turning point of the season. Acosta won the next two rounds, securing three consecutive podiums until Austria. It was during this period that he definitively took the lead in the championship, surpassing Arbolino in the British GP. Meanwhile, #14 entered a negative period, standing on the podium only twice more until now: he finished second in India and won in Australia.

After the fall in France, Acosta only missed the podium with a sixth-place finish in Catalonia and ninth in Australia, winning five times. It was a series of results that “previously announced” the title he has now won: two rounds before the end, he has an 83-point lead over Arbolino.

For the «Tiburón de Mazarrón» («The Shark from Mazarrón») this was the second title in just three seasons in the World Championships, adding to the Moto3 title in 2021. The future, for him, is the MotoGP, moving up with GasGas Tech3 next year.

O conteúdo «The Shark» Pedro Acosta conquers Moto2: the journey to the title aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Pedro Acosta is the new Moto2 World Champion. Second place was more than enough for him to clinch the title this Sunday in a race completely dominated by Fermín Aldeguer.

Manuel González (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team/Kalex) had a good start and even took the lead but crashed in turn two after a contact with Fermín Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro). Almost miraculously, he escaped without any harm. Aldeguer took the lead ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex).

In third place was Marcos Ramírez (OnlyFans American Racing/Kalex). Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS/Kalex) needed at least a top-three finish to stay in the title fight and was in a distant seventh place. The Italian faced even more challenges on the second lap when he went off track and dropped down the pack.

Meanwhile, there was a notification that the incident between Aldeguer and González was under investigation. Indifferent to that, Aldeguer continued to lead solidly and by the fourth lap had almost a three-second lead over Acosta. In a race with little drama for the top positions, Aldeguer continued to distance himself from Acosta, who, in turn, was also isolated, not giving Ramírez any chance to close the gap.

In fourth place was Alonso López (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro), with Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex) in fifth. Some riders who were fighting in the top five fell due to crashes, such as Arón Canet (Pons Wegow Los40/Kalex), Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing/Kalex), and Izan Guevara (Inde GasGas Aspar/Kalex). In the podium positions, nothing changed until the end, although Ogura finished pressuring the third-placed rider.

Aldeguer continued to extend his lead and won with a margin of 7.128s over Acosta, who thus became the champion. Ramírez completed the top three, holding off Ogura by just 0.434s. Jake Dixon (Inde GasGas Aspar/Kalex) finished fifth. López plummeted in the standings on the last lap, finishing in 22nd place. As for Arbolino, he concluded in tenth.

Results:

O conteúdo Pedro Acosta conquers the Moto2 title overshadowing Fermín Aldeguer’s dominating win at the Malaysian GP aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Three laps from the end, three out of the six riders contending for victory in the Malaysian Moto3 Grand Prix were knocked out of the battle due to an incident.

José Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) attempted to overtake Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team/Honda) but made contact with the Italian, lost control, and then collided with his teammate Deniz Öncü.

The Spaniard suffered the worst outcome, retiring on the spot. Bertelle and Öncü continued in the race but were irreversibly delayed, finishing 11th and 12th, respectively.

You can watch the incident below.

O conteúdo Video: Incident takes out three of the six contenders for the victory in Moto3 at Sepang aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Tony Arbolino managed to advance to the second qualifying for the Moto2 Malaysian GP from the Q1 session, along with three other riders.

After the initial flying laps, Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex) led, with Dennis Foggia (Italtrans Racing Team/Kalex), Zonta van den Goorbergh (Fieten Oil RW Racing GP/Kalex), and Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS/Kalex) also in the qualification zone.

However, Arbolino quickly moved into the lead, with Taiga Hada (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team/Kalex) in second. Arenas dropped to third, while Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team/Kalex) progressed to fourth.

Arenas briefly climbed to second but remained 0.324s behind Arbolino, and the composition of the qualification zone did not change. Hada and Roberts also held their positions. In fifth, Foggia missed out on advancing to the Q2 by 0.190s.

Results:

O conteúdo Tony Arbolino and three others secured a spot in the battle for the Moto2 pole position Moto2 at Sepang aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

All 18 riders who will compete for the pole position in the Moto3 Malaysian GP have been determined. Collin Veijer, José Antonio Rueda, Xavier Artigas, and Vicente Pérez secured the four spots through the Q1 in Sepang.

After the initial flying laps, Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Mario Aji, Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), and David Alonso (Gaviota GasGas Aspar) held the positions that granted access to the second qualifying. With his second flying lap, Artigas (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) moved up to second place before Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) took the lead. Pérez (BOE Motorsports/KTM) then secured fourth place.

Despite Veijer improving his lap time and strengthening his lead, there were no further changes until the end. Veijer, Rueda, Artigas, and Pérez secured qualification, unlike Aji, who finished fifth, just 46 thousandths of a second behind the top four. The Q1 session ended with a dramatic highside from Alonso in turn three, requiring assistance from the marshals.

Results:

O conteúdo Collin Veijer and three others secure a spot in the Moto3 Q2 in Sepang aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.