The KTM GP Academy raced into action for the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley at the magnificent setting of Mugello and in overcast and cool summer conditions for the eighth round of the now-twenty round MotoGP™ championship. Pedro Acosta was the standout performer on the day with his very first victory in the Moto2 class.
Moto3
For the second time this season Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Deniz Öncü started from Pole Position. The Turk had won the distinction on Saturday just ahead of brandmate, Red Bull KTM Ajo rookie Daniel Holgado: the Spaniard’s 2nd place was his highest qualification ranking of the season so far.
Öncü was in the leading group until he was hit by Tatsuzki Suzuki and crashed at mid-race distance. He was able to get back into the race and worked up to grab one point for 15th. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jaume Masia, who has won GPs in the USA and France this term, suffered contact in the pack on lap three and had to rejoin the fray with a significant disadvantage of time and positions. He made it back to 17th.
Adrian Fernandez managed to take his KTM RC4 to 10th and his best result of the season while Holgado was desperately unlucky to have John McPhee fall out in front of him a lap later and also tumbled into the gravel.
Moto2
Red Bull KTM Ajo ruled the previous outing at Le Mans with Pedro Acosta on Pole Position and Augusto Fernandez earning his first victory for the team. On Saturday Acosta maintained his ripe form with 2nd in qualification. Come the 21-lap race and he was able to assert his control to become the seventh different winner of the year of the season. The Spaniard, who turned 18 years old just four days beforehand, is now the youngest victor in the history of the intermediate class.
Fernandez rode well to rally back from the fringes of the top twenty to finish 5th and gain more valuable points to allow the Spaniard to sit 6th in the series standings. Acosta ranks 10th.
Pedro Acosta: “A long way to be here! We lost a good opportunity in Le mans and another in America. Finally, we arrived and we are doing a great job. If we can continue in this way then we’ll have some fun by the end of the season!”
The fifth round of the 2022 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup took place at Mugello in wet conditions on Saturday and was won by Spanish teenager Maximo Quiles after the youngster stayed upright and error-free. Sunday allowed the ‘rookies’ to push their KTM RC 250 Rs harder in dry conditions and Dutch racer Collin Veijer triumphed by just eight hundredths of a second.
Barcelona beckons next weekend for the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya as the 2022 world championship pushes towards the midway point.
Results Moto3 Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley 2022
1. Sergio Garcia, (ESP), GASGAS 39:43.214
2. Izan Guevara, (ESP), GASGAS -0.021 (1 place penalty)
3. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN), Honda +0.012
4. Andrea Migno (ITA), Honda +0.137
5. R Yamanaka (JPN), Honda +0.234
10. Adrian Fernandez (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +5.747
15. Deniz Öncü, (TUR), Red Bull KTM Tech3 +16.689
17. Jaume Masia (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +16.789
DNF. Daniel Holgado (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo
Results Moto2 Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley 2022
1. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo 39:35.930
2. Joe Roberts (USA) +4.051
3. Ai Ogura (JPN) +6.749
5. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +12.327