A clean sweep for the KTM GP Academy at the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland as Pedro Acosta and Remy Gardner ruled the Moto3 and Moto2 classes around the Sachsenring and extended their advantage at the top of the respective world championship standings.
Moto3
Pedro Acosta started the 27-lap race from 13th position and quickly worked his way to the front of a large 18-rider group that thinned after several incidents, mainly at the curling section around turns 1 and 2. Acosta, the Moto3 rookie, helped set the pace until the decisive final two-lap dash when he pushed to the peak of the pack and triumphed by a tenth of a second. CIP Green Power’s Kaito Toba finished second on his KTM RC4.
Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Jaume Masia had to take a long lap penalty for a racing incident but then crashed out with 13 laps to go after a multi-rider tangle at Turn 1. The same troublesome hotspot on the circuit claimed Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Deniz Öncü who had been hunting his second consecutive podium finish. The Turk’s teammate Ayumu Sasaki did not start the Grand Prix as the Japanese is still recovering from injuries sustained at the previous round in Catalunya.
Acosta has now banked results of 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st 8th, 8th, 7th and 1st in his first eight Grand Prix appearances and the 17-year-old leads Sergio Garcia in the championship by 55 points; a margin of more than two rounds. Masia remains 3rd.
Pedro Acosta: “It was such a hard race. It was hard to manage the tires. It was the toughest win of the season and the best after two difficult rounds. We recovered the confidence, and we changed the bike a bit and the plan. This is for me my family and all the team. I’m super-happy.”
Moto2
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Remy Gardner dashed to his third consecutive Moto2 Grand Prix victory after the Australian led from the first lap until the flag and increased his lead in the world championship. It was a dominant performance by the 23-year-old who has finished on the podium from seven of eight rounds in 2021.
While giving chase to his teammate in the early laps Raul Fernandez slipped out of the running at Turn 3. It was the rookie’s first mistake of what has been an outstanding rookie season in the category. The Spaniard keeps 2nd position in the championship standings.
Remy Gardner: “Honestly I didn’t know if I had that pace today; Raul was also fast. I had the doubt but I went into the race with an open mind when I passed Raul I went for it and did some quick and smooth laps in the beginning. I then saw he was out, and I had a gap of almost five seconds. It was a really long race being out there alone and trying not to make mistakes. I managed the gap and I’m really happy. Another 25 points.”
MotoGP travels swiftly north and to the Netherlands for the Motul TT Assen next weekend.
Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup
Columbian David Alonso snared victory on Saturday afternoon for what was round seven of fourteen in the 2021 championship but a dramatic multi-rider crash on the final lap of the eighth outing meant that Matteo Bertelle was able to dart through and pick-up his first 25 points of the campaign. Alonso fronts the standings from David Muñoz by 6 points.
Northern Talent Cup
Czech rider Jakub Gurecky has been the outstanding youngster in the 2021 Northern Talent Cup so far and he won his fourth race in a row and from pole position on Saturday in Germany. Gurecky was a protagonist on Sunday but lost by fractions of a second to the impressive Rossi Moor who burst through on the final corner to claim his maiden NTC spoils.
Results Moto3 Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland 2021
1. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo 39:38.791
2. Kaito Toba (JPN) KTM +0.130
3. Dennis Foggia (ITA) Honda +0.259
4. Jeremy Alcoba (ESP) Honda +0.206
5. Andrea Migno (ITA) Honda +0.459
16. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +54.714
DNF. Jaume Masia (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo
DNS. Ayumu Sasaki (JPN) Red Bull KTM Tech3
Results Moto2 Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland 2021
1. Remy Gardner (AUS) Red Bull KTM Ajo 39:39.191
2. Aron Canet (ESP) +6.158
3. Marco Bezzecchi (ESP) +7.030
DNF. Raul Fernandez (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo