Attention, approaching talents! The Turkish motorcycle previously only had one name: Kenan Sofuoglu. Since the Valencia Grand Prix, there is now Can Öncü. And for good reason. This last race of the year is the start of a story that promises to be exciting. We already have the brothers Asparagus, we also have the Marquez brothers and here are the two Öncü who arrive without warning. Two ? Yes, because Can has a brother Deniz. We haven't seen it at work on the Ricardo Tormo route, but we also say the greatest things about it...
It was a first and no doubt the tune will become more and more familiar to our ears. What ? the Turkish anthem. Can Öncü, 15, wrote Grand Prix history from his debut in the Moto3 World Championship. In Valencia, he became the youngest winner of his first Grand Prix. Unheard of since March 24, 1991 at Suzuka, when a certain Noboru Ueda triumphed in front of his home crowd at the end of his first international race.
Can Öncü is the youngest driver to win at this level, at the age of 15 years, three months and 23 days. Niklas Ajo, himself a former driver, son of the team owner Aki Ajo and now director of the Red Bull Ajo junior team, is responsible forÖncü this year in the CEV Repsol Junior World Championship. He knows his young thoroughbred well, which he describes as follows: “ we didn't even expect a place on the podium“, said the Finn. “ But the level of the Moto3 Junior World Championship is currently very high. This is why talented young drivers have good chances. We saw this with Vietti, who finished third in his second Grand Prix in Australia. Raul Fernandez also fought as a debutant in the top ten ».
« We knew that our lap times in the Junior World Championship were very close to those in the Grand Prix. So we figured we could at least join the leading group. But above all we wanted to gain experience and finish the race here. We had no concrete expectations. We tested Can here a week ago with the 2018 KTM for the first time, because he rides a 2017 CEV series model. But we only did half a day and it was very windy. "
What are the strong points of Can and his brother Deniz? Niklas Ajo answer : “I think both of these guys are incredibly talented. I saw it in spirit and attitude. They are both so mature and ambitious. We saw this during qualifying on Saturday. Being in 4th place was an incredible result. But he was angry and annoyed, he almost cried because he came to win. This attitude and determination sets them apart from rivals. "
He finishes : " we have to admit that time was a little on our side. I don't know if we would have won in the dry. We'll never know. On the other hand, the race lasted so long in the rain, more than 43 minutes, it was really difficult. You had to maintain your concentration during the 23 laps. We saw on the last lap, when he slowed down, he almost fell. This Grand Prix was a valuable experience for him. He was quite stressed before the race. Now he has shown what he can do. Stress will decrease. "
