Ajo Motorsport

Ajo Motorsport is a Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle racing team, currently competing in the Moto2 and Moto3 classes under the name Red Bull KTM Ajo. The team's founder and principal is former racer Aki Ajo. His son, former 125cc/Moto3 rider Niklas Ajo, is the current team principal of the team as Aki Ajo becomes team manager of the factory KTM MotoGP team.

The team debuted in 2001 and took its first win in 2003. Ajo Motorsport has won ten world championship titles; the 125cc championship with Mike Di Meglio in 2008 and Marc Márquez in 2010, the Moto3 championship in 2012 with Sandro Cortese, 2016 with Brad Binder, and 2021 with Pedro Acosta and the Moto2 championship in 2015 and 2016, both with Johann Zarco,^[1] 2021 with Remy Gardner, 2022 with Augusto Fernández, and 2023 with Pedro Acosta.

The team's debut at a world championship race was at Sachsenring in 2001, where the team entered Mika Kallio as a wildcard rider. The team and Kallio also took part in the competition in Valencia later in the year. The team's bikes were labelled with the Honda brand name, even though the engines were supplied by Ajo. The year 2002 was the first season in which Ajo was a regular competitor in the World Championship, with Kallio as their main rider. Their best result that season was fifth place in Jerez, and Kallio was named "Rookie of the Year", beating riders such as Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo.

In 2003, the team expanded to two bikes, with Kallio being joined by the Japanese competitor Masao Azuma. Kallio then left the team in August after receiving an offer from KTM. He was replaced by Andrea Ballerini. In Australia, the team achieved a 1–2 victory, with Ballerini in first place and Azuma in second. Ajo attributed a large portion of their success to the combination of wet conditions and Bridgestone tyres, which are optimal for damp weather. For the 2004 season, the team had two new riders in Lukáš Pešek and Danish Robbin Harms. The season was a disappointing one for Ajo, as Pešek crashed repeatedly and as Harms suffered several injuries. Pešek moved to the Derbi team for the next season.

Japanese Tomoyoshi Koyama and French Alexis Masbou were Ajo's riders in the 2005 season. Koyama won the "Rookie of the Year" title, the team's second in four years. His best results were second place in Australia and third in Turkey; in overall standings he held eighth place. The team kept the same riders for the following year but obtained new bikes from Malaguti. Both riders suffered many injuries which affected their season. Masbou was only able to ride eight races and did not score any points. Koyama's best result was sixth in Estoril, and he ended in 15th place in the championship standings. In 2007, the team raced with Derbi bikes, driven by Michael Ranseder and Robert Mureșan. Ranseder finished in the points 13 times, while Mureșan failed to score.

Ajo Motorsport continued with Derbi for the 2008 season, with Mike Di Meglio and Dominique Aegerter as their riders. Di Meglio won four races (France, Catalonia, Germany and Australia) and clinched the world championship in Australia, two races before the end of the season. Aegerter finished eighth twice. Sandro Cortese accompanied Dominique Aegerter in 2009. The team scored several podiums this season but did not manage to win any races. In the 2010 season, Ajo Motorsport fielded Marc Márquez, Sandro Cortese and Adrián Martín. The season was a big success for the team. Márquez scored twelve poles and ten victories, and brought the team its second title in three years.

Five riders across two teams were run by Ajo for the 2011 season with the Avant-AirAsia-Ajo team remaining with the Derbi and the Red Bull Ajo Motorsport on Aprilias. Despite missing out on winning the championship, future Moto2 champion Johann Zarco finished second with a run of podiums and a win in Japan on the Derbi. On the Aprilia was future Moto3 champion Danny Kent, and Jonas Folger who also bought the team a podium and a win at the British GP.

The year 2012 was the championship move from 125cc to Moto3 and the team went with the KTM. The season was a full return to form with Sandro Cortese winning the championship with the Red Bull KTM Ajo team taking five wins and nine podiums. Danny Kent also took fourth with consistent point scoring and two wins.

The 2013 season saw Ajo cut back to a single team fielding three riders, and with two wildcards in Malaysia. Luis Salom joined the team to replace the departing Cortese and Kent. Salom managed seven wins and five podiums but this only got him a third overall.

Ajo expanded greatly for 2014 fielding four teams with five full time riders and two wildcards. Jack Miller joined and took second overall missing out on first by only two points. Ajo also took on Husqvarna as a make with the team's founder Aki's son, Niklas, Danny Kent making a return riding them.

The year 2015 saw the Moto3 teams take a cut but expansion into the Moto2 class. The team's entry into Moto2 was spectacular with Johann Zarco rejoining the team and winning the championship taking eight victories, six podiums, and finishing every other race in the points. The Moto3 effort saw another strong season with Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira joining the team and taking sixth and second respectively in the championship. Bo Bendsneyder also joined for Moto3 to replace the departing Oliveira.

The year 2016 was another excellent season with Zarco winning his second Moto2 championship, and Binder winning the Moto3 championship.

A season of contrasts came in 2017 with Binder and Oliveira joining the Moto2 effort taking 8th and 3rd respectively. They saw three wins and seven podiums between them. The Moto3 team retained Bendsneyder and had Niccolo Antonelli join, and Kent return for two wildcards, however, the season was a disappointment with Bendsneyder being the highest finisher in only 15th.

The year 2018 mirrored the previous season. Binder and Oliveira continued to perform well in Moto2 ultimately taking third and second in the championship with another six wins and eight podiums to their combined tally. Darryn Binder was the only full time Moto3 rider taking 17th with 57 points. Wildcards Raúl Fernández and Can Öncü saw respectable results with a ninth and a win resulting in placements of 28th and 24th overall.

Another near miss came in 2019 with Binder taking second overall by three points. Jorge Martín replaced Oliveira. Can Öncü became a full time rider but could not replicate his previous success managing only eight points across the season. Can's twin brother Deniz Öncü also rode at six events. Ajo also expanded into the MotoE championship and started strong with rider Niki Tuuli winning the opening round but not being able to replicate the success and the Jerez fire putting a stop to the MotoE season.

The shortened 2020 season saw a low for Ajo with no riders managing to finish in the top 3 overall in any class. Ajo switched to Kalex chassis as KTM shut down its Moto2 chassis programme.^[2] Tetsuta Nagashima started Moto2 well with a win and scored points across the season to take eighth, and Martín taking two wins and four podiums for fifth. Moto3 saw Raúl Fernández take two wins and two thirds to manage a fourth overall. In the MotoE championship, Niki Tuuli finished the season with a third and a win for sixth overall.

A resounding return to success came in 2021. Fernández was promoted to Moto2 and joined by seasoned Moto2 rider Remy Gardner. Gardner took the championship by four points from rookie Fernández after a season long battle with both taking multiple wins and podiums. The Moto3 team consisted of Jaume Masià and rookie Pedro Acosta. Masià had a reasonable season with two wins and four podiums but Acosta took the championship by storm with six wins and two podiums to make him the second youngest championship winner ever. The team remained in the MotoE class with Hikari Okubo taking 11th overall.

The year 2022 was another strong season for Ajo. Pedro Acosta was promoted to Moto2 and had a strong first season with three wins and two seconds taking him to fifth overall. He was joined by Augusto Fernández whose four wins and five podiums gave him the championship. Masià remained with the team and despite two wins and regular podiums and points only managed sixth. He was joined by Daniel Holgado. Hikari Okubo remained with the team in MotoE and his season long point scoring resulted in a sixth overall.

Augusto Fernandez moved to MotoGP class in 2023, replaced by Albert Arenas as a teammate of Acosta in the Moto2 team. Acosta won the rider's championship with seven wins, while Arenas had a difficult season with only one podium finish, and he left the team at the end of the season. Ajo's Moto3 team had a completely new lineup, with Deniz Öncü and 2022 JuniorGP champion José Antonio Rueda replaced both Holgado and Masia. Öncü and Rueda finished fourth and ninth respectively in the riders standings.

The 2024 season saw a change in Ajo's Moto2 programme, with Moto3 graduate Öncü and Celestino Vietti as its riders. While the team continued with Kalex chassis, their relationship with KTM saw the team (along with Pierer-backed Aspar Team and Intact GP) switched suspension supplier to WP, while other Kalex teams remained with Öhlins.^[3]

* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

* Season still in progress.

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