Silverstone, UK, August 8th - Deniz Öncü took advantage of the world championship restart in Great Britain to take his first podium of the season. In so doing, the KTM Tech 3 rider starts the second half of the season in fine style.
The championship restart, after a long five week summer break, did not bring the KTM Tech 3 Team riders the results they were hoping for, despite Remy Gardner starting in sixteenth place on the grid, his best MotoGP qualifying to date. “The start of the race was pretty positive," commented the Australian. “I managed to get up to thirteenth place, but after about ten laps my pace dropped and I lost ground. I finally finished eighteenth, but the gap to the winner was the smallest it’s been since the beginning of the season, so that’s encouraging." Raul Fernandez struggled throughout the weekend. Lacking confidence, the Spaniard made a number of mistakes at the start of the race that saw him drop down the rankings. He crossed the finish line in 21st position.
Tony Arbolino was the sole representative of the Elf Marc VDS team at the Silverstone circuit after Sam Lowes crashed out in FP1 on Friday morning and dislocated his left shoulder. Qualifying on the fourth row of the grid, Arbolino got a good start and was soon fighting for seventh place. Unfortunately, in order to avoid Arenas, who fell in front of him, the Italian had to run off the track. He finally took the chequered flag in twelfth position. “I didn’t have a good feeling with the front end," commented Arbolino. “It is something we really need to improve because at the moment I can't maintain the pace. But I’m not giving up and I fully intend to finish the season up at the front."
Starting sixth on the grid, Deniz Öncü immediately got in amongst the leading group with Suzuki, Foggia and Masia. As usual, the Moto3 riders fought a fierce, fairing to fairing battle. But while he has often had to settle for fourth place this year, this time the Elf rider managed to get a podium finish. “I'm especially happy because I haven't been on the podium since Aragon last year," commented Öncü. “At the same time, I’m a bit of disappointed because I really think that victory was within reach. But I'm staying positive, it's a great way to start the second half of the season.” After his DNF in the Netherlands, Adrian Fernandez also wrapped up his UK weekend in positive fashion with a point for 15th place.
| CATEGORY | RIDER | RACE | CHAMPIONSHIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOTOGP |
Remy Gardner |
18th |
23rd (9 points) |
|
Raul Fernandez |
21st |
24th (5 points) |
|
| MOTO2 |
Sam Lowes |
DNF |
13th (51 points) |
|
Tony Arbolino |
7th |
5th (104 points) |
|
| MOTO3 |
Deniz Öncü |
3rd |
5th (114 points) |
|
Adrian Fernandez |
15th |
20th (29 points) |
