Austrian Moto3: Oncu takes dramatic win at the line from Holgado

A photo finish saw Oncu win by half a wheel after a thrilling final lap from the front group in the Moto3 Austrian Grand Prix.

Lisa Lewis

20 Aug 2023

Deniz Oncu, Moto3 race, Austrian MotoGP, 20 August

Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Deniz Oncu picked up the pieces as Daniel Holgado and Ayumu Sasaki concentrated on each other, crossing the line first in an incredibly close run to the finish in round ten of the Moto3 championship at the Red Bull Ring.

Championship leader Daniel Holgado launched from second and immediately hit the front and tried to break up the group.

Not allowed his own way, Deniz Oncu and Collin Veijer both went with him, with the lead pack soon a five as Jaume Masia and David Alonso joined.

Sasaki was sat in sixth but worked hard to join the leaders as the Spainsh duo exited. Masia was fourth when his bike failed - the Japanese rider was lucky to stay upright, running into the back of his slowing Leopard.

At the start of lap twelve Alonso, who won from the back last time out in Silverstone, hit the front then immediately hit the gravel, leaving the lead four to battle it out.

Oncu wins after race goes all the way to the chequered flag

After several changes of lead it was Holgado who lead the start of the final lap. That lasted until turn one when Sasaki moved his Husqvarna in front, the battle raged with contact between the two.

Oncu was sat in behind. Sure he was capable of the win - incredibly fast through turn seven, where he made most of his overtakes in the race, he tapped the back of his seat and tried to talk to Sakaki at one point to attempt to encourage his rivals to follow his pace, the Turkish rider knew where he excelled at the Red Bull Ring and was ready to find a way to the front.

Speaking to TNT Sports before the race the #53 said he wanted to run at the front in the lead pack and “be lucky in the last lap" - exactly as it panned out - Sasaki had to sit up and allow Holgado under in the final corner or he was likely to finish off his bike and Oncu pounced - under and up the inside, with better drive out of the corner he snatched victory right at the line from his front row start.

Holgado was just 0.005s behind at the line, the photo finish showing his Red Bull KTM Tech3 just half a wheel behind.

Sasaki still has a win eluding him this season, but made up places early to be in contention from eighth on the grid and couldn’t have been closer to that first victory of the season, as he was also concerned about running onto the green and losing his podium on the Liqui Moly Intact GP bike.

Collin Veijer started on a high, as the first rider from the Netherlands to take pole in any class since Jurgen van den Goorbergh at the 1999 Czech GP round. Nervous and feeling the pressure at the front of the grid, he too was in contention for the win and held his own well to remain a fixture in the front group on his way to a best ever finish of fourth in his rookie season, just behind his teammate.

Ivan Ortola took over the charge of the chasing group, then left them to attempt to catch the leaders. That ended when the frontrunners picked up the pace one last time over the final two laps. He made up huge ground from 18th on the grid to pick up fifth for the Angeluss MTA team.

Riccardo Rossi had a lonely ride for much of the race on his SIC58 Squadra Corse after being dropped. He finished sixth after being caught and passed by Ortola but was still the top Honda in the race.

Ryusei Yamanaka climbed to the front of the next main group to finish seventh for Gas Gas Aspar, ahead of Diogo Moreira who made up ground from 19th to finish a much improved eighth in race trim for MT Helmets - MSI.

David Munoz was ninth for BOE Motorsports ahead of a top ten finish for Stefano Nepa on the second Angeluss bike.

Jose Antonio Rueda lost ground initialy but rallied for eleventh on his Red Bull KTM Ajo, with Matteo Bertelle next to cross the finish in twelfth for Rivacold Snipers.

The remaining points on offer went to Tatsuki Suzuki, the only Leopard finisher in 13th, his compatriot Kaito Toba in 14th on the second SIC 58 entry and David Salvador in 15th for CIP Green Power.

Penalties for VisionTrack

Scott Ogden crossed the line 15th but had been handed a long lap penalty late in the race for exceeding track limits. A time penalty was added instead, dropping him to 22nd. Joel Kelso was the best of the penalised riders to finish in 16th.

Joshua Whatley had the same punishment but was asked to re-do his lap, leaving him 27th.

Crashes, injuries and replacements

There were no replacement riders but 2 wildcard riders took part in Spileberg. Noah Detwiller (20th) made his debut with the Pruestel team, Tatchakorn Buasari had another one-off ride with Honda Team Asia, finishing 23rd.

Syarfuddin Azman crashed out along with Alonso, both rejoined to finish the race so Masia was the only recorded non-finisher.

Where does that leave the championship?

Heading next to Catalunya on the first weekend in September, Holgado’s second sees him extend his lead from 22 to 26 points with a total of 161, Sasaki remains second to him after his podium finish.

Oncu is third overall, 37 points adrift, with Ortola up to fourth overall after another DNF for Masia.