Spielberg, Austria, August 22nd - At just 17 years of age, Senna Agius was invited to Austria to compete in his first ever Grand Prix as the replacement for Sam Lowes. An unforgettable experience for the young Australian Elf Marc VDS Racing team rider.
The Tech 3 riders were hoping for a better showing at KTM's home track. Remy Gardner suffered a crash at the start of the race while Raul Fernandez had a hard time finding his feet aboard his RC16. “Obviously, this is not the result we were hoping for in Austria, in KTM's backyard," admitted Hervé Poncharal. “We were counting on at least one of our riders finishing in the points... I would nevertheless like to thank Remy for re-joining the race and making it to the finish in front of the fans and KTM’s management. For his part, Raul was very irregular. Sometimes he was close to the points, then he was far from them... It's a shame."
With Sam Lowes still injured and unable to race, the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team decided to give a chance to Senna Agius, a 17-year-old Australian who is racing this season in Spain in the European Moto2 Championship. Despite a long lap penalty for running off the track, Agius managed to finish his first Grand Prix in 17th position. “I'm happy with my weekend," he said. “The level of the world championship is much higher, all the riders are very fast. But I think I learned a lot this weekend. My riding style evolved a lot between the beginning and the end of the weekend. I made some mistakes but I am still satisfied with my race. And I'm really happy that I've been given another chance at Misano." For his 100th Grand Prix, Tony Arbolino wasn’t so lucky. The Italian crashed out when he tangled with Lorenzo Dalla Porta on lap 18. "I'm very disappointed because I had a good feeling on the bike and the pace to fight for the podium."
Deniz Öncü came within a whisker of a second consecutive podium finish at the Spielberg circuit. Qualifying in first place for the fourth time this season, the KTM Tech3 rider completed the first lap in the lead before finding himself fighting it out with a handful of equally determined rivals. Öncü dropped back to ninth after a small mistake at the new Austrian chicane but quickly climbed back up to fifth place. Third going into the final lap, unfortunately the Turkish rider had to give up his podium spot to David Muñoz. “I tried to have a smart race, but I was a bit lost at the start and ended up missing the new chicane," admitted the Elf rider. “I then had trouble overtaking because I was a little too slow on the straights. The result was not what I had hoped for.” Twenty-second on the grid, Adrian Fernandez crossed the finish line in seventeenth place.
Both Tech 3 MotoE riders achieved their best result of the season in Austria, each picking up a fifth place on the two races held at the Spielberg circuit. Alex Escrig was the best performer, finishing sixth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday. Commented the Spaniard, “I'm happy because we got the result I was aiming for and I feel that I made a lot of progress this weekend. Now we have one more race at Misano to finish the season in the best possible way." Fifth at the finish of the first race, Hector Garzo on the second.
| CATEGORY | RIDER | RACE | CHAMPIONSHIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOTOGP |
Remy Gardner |
20th |
23rd (9 points) |
|
Raul Fernandez |
18th |
24th (5 points) |
|
| MOTO2 |
Senna Agius |
17th |
|
|
Tony Arbolino |
DNF |
6th (106 points) |
|
| MOTO3 |
Deniz Öncü |
4th |
6th (127 points) |
|
Adrian Fernandez |
17th |
20th (29 points) |
|
| MOTOE |
Alex Escrig |
6th and 5th |
10th (60 points) |
|
Hector Garzo |
5th and 8th |
7th (78 points) |
