German Moto3: Last corner lunge lands Oncu first win

After chasing down Ayumu Sasaki a perfectly timed final corner move brought Deniz Oncu his first Moto3 win in the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.

Lisa Lewis

18 Jun 2023

Deniz Oncu reeled in Ayumu Sasaki, then sat in patiently behind, waiting for the perfect opportunity to put in a race winning move, which came in the final corners of the final lap of the the Moto3 German Grand Prix, round seven of the championship.

Sasaki had said pre-race that his plan had been to use his record one lap pace to break, but Oncu added that his own plan was to keep up with the Japanese rider, which he executed to perfection.

Daniel Holgado had initially looked to have the pace to catch Sasaki, with a succession of in race lap records, so the Red Bull KTM rider tucked in behind him. It soon became clear that was a burst and Oncu moved ahead and gave chase.

Once back with Sasaki, the Turkish rider weighed up his options in the second half of the race.

Oncu rides through the pain barrier

Before the race Oncu confirmed he had pain in his left leg. Undeterred and with the adrenaline of the chase to help, the #53 was repeatedly seen punching his leg, waving it off the bike, massaging his calf, anything to relieve his pain, all the while sitting right on Sasaki’s back wheel.

A small look at turn three on the last lap was not on with Sasaki ready to defend. At the final corner his waiting game paid off, launching up the inside and ahead to lead over the line by 0.095s.

Having come close in Mugello last weekend it was Oncu’s first win in his 62nd grand prix.

Sasaki, who is still looking for his first win of the season was a clear second after leading every lap for Liqui Moly IntactGP.

Their game of cat and mouse pulled out a gap of over twelve seconds to the battle for third.

That was defended hard by Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Holgado, the championship leader gave everything to keep ahead of title rival Ivan Ortola, who had to eventually settle for fourth for the Angeluss MTA Team.

There was a further gap back to the main chasing group, lead over the line by top rookie David Alonso for Gaviota GasGas after several changes over the race.

Jaume Masia got off to a poor start but was able to battle back in the pack for sixth for Leopard.

Diogo Moreira (Mt Helmets - MSI) was right behind in seventh, fractionally ahead of Ryusei Yamanaka (Gaviota GasGas Aspar) at the line.

Stefano Nepa was ninth in a close run to the line for Angeluss MTA, with Xavier Artigas (CFMotoRacing PruestelGP) crossing the line tenth but demoted a place for exceeding track limits on the final lap, with Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) taking over the position.

David Munoz, having originally qualified fifth, was handed a back of the grid and a long lap penalty for riding slow on the racing line. Those completed he staged a comeback for twelfth for BOE Motorsports.

Rookie Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Kaito Toba (SIC 58 Squadra Corse) and Andrea Migno took the remaining points on offer.

Scott Ogden made a comeback from the back of the grid following his fall on Saturday to finish 20th for VisionTrack Racing, ahead of teammate Joshua Whatley in 23rd.

Crashes, injuries and replacements

Migno continues his long run filling in for Lorenzo Fellon at GIP Green Power.

Tatsuki Suzuki’s fall in the Mugello race left him with broken bones in his foot and hand, so Adrian Fernandez (16th) made a Moto3 return to fill his seat at Leopard until his return.

Syariffudin Azman also out of action. Daniel Sharil (26th) deputised for him at MT Helmets-MSI.

Thai rider Tatchakorn Busari (25th) was handed a wildcard for the German round with Honda Team Asia.

After leading the opeining corners after a brilliant start Collin Veijer was the first faller. The only other rider not to finish was Matteo Bertelle, who crashed out of the chasing group on the penultimate lap.

Where does that leave the championship?

Ahead of the race Daniel Holgado had 109 points and held a 35 point advantage over Jaume Masia.

Holgado continues to lead, now with 125 points, while Masia moves on to 84. Third in the race sees Ortola third overall, now 44 points adrift on 81. Sasaki is fourth overall on 79, while a win sees Oncu in fifth on 78.