Deniz Öncü

Deniz Öncü
Nationality	Turkish
Born	(2003-07-26) 26 July 2003 (age 21) Alanya, Turkey
Current team	Red Bull KTM Ajo
Bike number	53
Motorcycle racing career statistics Moto2 World Championship Active years 2024– Manufacturers Kalex 2024 championship position 20th (49 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 17 0 1 0 0 49 Moto3 World Championship Active years 2019–2023 Manufacturers KTM Championships 0 2023 championship position 4th (223 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 76 3 13 8 7 568

Deniz Öncü (born 26 July 2003) is a Turkish motorcycle racer,^[1] currently competing in the Moto2 World Championship, for team Red Bull KTM Ajo. His twin brother, Can, is also a motorcycle racer. Both brothers are mentored by Turkish multi-world champion motorcycle racer, Kenan Sofuoğlu.^[2]

Career

Early career

Deniz, and his twin brother Can, competed in the Asia Talent Cup in 2016, Deniz finishing in 10th, and Can in 9th.^[3] They would compete again in 2017, Deniz becoming champion, and Can finishing 3rd.^[4] They both entered the 2017 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, Deniz finishing 4th, and Can in 3rd.^[5] Just like with the Asia Talent Cup, they would try again in 2018, Deniz finishing as runner-up this time, behind his brother Can who was crowned champion.^[6]

For 2018, as well as competing in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, both Can and Deniz joined Ajo Motorsport, and raced in the 2018 FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship, Deniz finishing in 14th, and Can finishing in 7th with three podiums.^[7]

Moto3 World Championship

Red Bull KTM Ajo (2019)

In 2019, Deniz made two wildcard race appearances with Red Bull KTM Ajo after reaching the minimum age of 16 for the world championship class, finishing 18th in Germany, and 17th in the Czech Republic. Can had been permitted to race from the start of the season, despite being below the minimum age of 16, as he received a special dispensation by Dorna after winning the 2018 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup,^[8] and the 2018 Valencian Grand Prix as a wildcard.^[9] Deniz replaced Can for a further three rounds, after Can suffered an injury at the Misano round, finishing in 16th, 24th, and 19th.

Red Bull KTM Tech3 (2020–2022)

For 2020, Deniz Öncü made his full season debut with Red Bull KTM Tech3. He achieved nine point scoring finishes, 50 points total, a season's best result being a 6th place in Valencia, and finished 17th in the riders' championship.

Öncü continued with Tech3 for the 2021 season, and he achieved his first Moto3 podium with a 3rd place finish in Barcelona, followed by two 2nd places in Austria and Aragon. He also scored his first Pole Position in Austria, but had to start from the back of the grid, because his Tech3 team elected to switch him to slick tyres, and finished just seconds after the three-minute board was shown.^[10] After the race in Austin, he was given a two race ban, after being deemed to have caused a massive incident involving clipping Jeremy Alcoba's front wheel, who went tumbling across the track, his bike being struck by Andrea Migno and Pedro Acosta, who both went airborne.^[11] Luckily all riders involved miraculously walked away from the incident unscathed, and Öncü was replaced by Daniel Holgado for the two race ban. Deniz finished the season with three podiums, 11th in the championship standings, and 95 points.

Return to Red Bull KTM Ajo (2023)

He competes for Red Bull KTM Ajo with teammate José Antonio Rueda in the 2023 season, and he won his first race in the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.

Moto2 World Championship

Red Bull KTM Ajo (2024-)

Red Bull KTM Ajo has announced the 2024 Moto2 rider line-up by promoting Oncu from Moto3 to be paired with Celestino Vietti.^[12]

Career statistics

Asia Talent Cup

Races by year

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

Year	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos	Pts
2016	Honda	THA1 11	THA2 9	QAT1 12	QAT2 15	MAL1 Ret	MAL2 14	CHN1 6	CHN2 6	JPN1 Ret	JPN2 10	SEP1 5	SEP2 3	10th	72
2017	Honda	THA1 1	THA2 1	QAT1 Ret	QAT2 5	SUZ1 Ret	SUZ2 5	MAL1 6	MAL2 2	JPN1 3	JPN2 3	SEP1 7	SEP2 4	1st	156

FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship

Races by year

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

Year	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos	Pts
2018	KTM	EST 24	VAL1 Ret	VAL2 14	LMS 14	CAT1 9	CAT2 Ret	ARA 7	JER1 7	JER2 6	ALB 32	VAL1 24	VAL2 26	14th	39
2019	KTM	EST 28	VAL1 Ret	VAL2 Ret	FRA 8	CAT1 Ret	CAT2 8	ARA 11	JER1 13	JER2 4	ALB 7	VAL1 Ret	VAL2 Ret	12th	46

Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup

Races by year

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

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pos	Pts
2017	JER1 Ret	JER2 9	ASS1 11	ASS2 5	SAC1 1	SAC2 Ret	BRN1 9	BRN2 1	RBR1 8	RBR2 5	MIS 4	ARA1 4	ARA2 6	4th	135
2018	JER1 4	JER2 3	MUG 6	ASS1 4	ASS2 5	SAC1 1	SAC2 2	RBR1 4	RBR2 4	MIS 8	ARA1 1	ARA2 1		2nd	192

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Team	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
2019	Moto3	KTM	Red Bull KTM Ajo	5	0	0	0	0	0	35th
2020	Moto3	KTM	Red Bull KTM Tech3	15	0	0	0	0	50	17th
2021	Moto3	KTM	Red Bull KTM Tech3	16	0	3	1	0	95	11th
2022	Moto3	KTM	Red Bull KTM Tech3	20	0	3	3	4	200	5th
2023	Moto3	KTM	Red Bull KTM Ajo	20	3	7	4	3	223	4th
2024	Moto2	Kalex	Red Bull KTM Ajo	17	0	1	0	0	49	20th
Total				93	3	14	8	7	617

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
Moto3	2019–2023	2019 Czech Republic	2021 Catalunya	2023 Germany	76	3	13	8	7	568	0
Moto2	2024–present	2024 Qatar	2024 Aragon		17	0	1	0	0	49	0
Total	2019–present				93	3	14	8	7	617	0

Races by year

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

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pos	Pts
2019	Moto3	KTM	QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	CZE 18	AUT 17	GBR	RSM 16	ARA 24	THA 19	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL		35th	0
2020	Moto3	KTM	QAT 12	SPA 25	ANC Ret	CZE 15	AUT 8	STY Ret	RSM 16	EMI 7	CAT Ret	FRA 22	ARA 15	TER 7	EUR 14	VAL 6	POR 10						17th	50
2021	Moto3	KTM	QAT 20	DOH 18	POR 15	SPA 20	FRA 9	ITA Ret	CAT 3	GER 16	NED 15	STY 21	AUT 2	GBR 8	ARA 2	RSM 21	AME 5	EMI	ALR	VAL 5			11th	95
2022	Moto3	KTM	QAT 4	INA 5	ARG 14	AME 5	POR 4	SPA 4	FRA 9	ITA 15	CAT 5	GER 7	NED 9	GBR 3	AUT 4	RSM 4	ARA 4	JPN 15	THA 17	AUS 2	MAL 10	VAL 2	5th	200
2023	Moto3	KTM	POR 10	ARG 24	AME 6	SPA 9	FRA 6	ITA 2	GER 1	NED 3	GBR 11	AUT 1	CAT 11	RSM 3	IND 14	JPN Ret	INA 8	AUS 1	THA 5	MAL 11	QAT 3	VAL 5	4th	223
2024	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 15	POR 20	AME 22	SPA 14	FRA 18	CAT 19	ITA 13	NED	GER	GBR	AUT 11	ARA 3	RSM 19	EMI Ret	INA 9	JPN 17	AUS 21	THA 10	MAL 7	SLD 21	20th	49

* Season still in progress.

References

1. "Deniz Öncü". Red Bull.
2. Kayayerli, Damla (December 18, 2017). "Twin brothers pushing limits of motor sports". Daily Sabah.
3. "IDEMITSU - ASIA TALENT CUP". IDEMITSU - ASIA TALENT CUP. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
4. "IDEMITSU - ASIA TALENT CUP". IDEMITSU - ASIA TALENT CUP. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
5. Cup, Red Bull MotoGP Rookies. "Results | Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup". Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
6. "Can Öncü wins the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup". 19 November 2018.
7. "New Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 project for 2018 – Ajo Motorsport". ajo.fi. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
8. Sports, Dorna. "Can Öncü wins the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup". www.motogp.com.
9. "Blog | Can Öncü the youngest ever Grand Prix winner". Red Bull.
10. "Styrian Moto3: Acosta wins in wet as Garcia crashes on last lap". www.autosport.com.
11. "Austin Moto3: Guevara declared winner as huge crash ends race early". www.motorsport.com.
12. "Acosta to MotoGP™ edges closer as Red Bull KTM Ajo sign Öncü & Vietti". Dorna Sports. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.

External links

• Deniz Öncü at MotoGP.com
• Deniz Öncü at AS.com (in Spanish)