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 and in the MotoE class under the name Avant Ajo MotoE. The team's founder and principal is former racer Aki Ajo. His son, former racer Niklas Ajo, is also involved in the team as crew chief and race engineer in the Moto3 programme.

Ajo Motorsport

2020 name	Red Bull KTM Ajo (Moto2 and Moto3) Avant Ajo MotoE (MotoE)
Base	Finland
Principal	Aki Ajo
Rider(s)	Moto2: 45. Tetsuta Nagashima 88. Jorge Martín Moto3: 25. Raúl Fernández 27. Kaito Toba MotoE: 66. Niki Tuuli
Motorcycle	KTM RC250GP (Moto3) Kalex (Moto2) Energica Ego Corsa (MotoE)
Tyres	Dunlop (Moto2 and Moto3) Michelin (MotoE)
Riders' Championships	Moto2: 2015: Johann Zarco 2016: Johann Zarco Moto3: 2012: Sandro Cortese 2016: Brad Binder 125cc: 2008: Mike Di Meglio 2010: Marc Márquez

The team debuted in 2001 and took its first win in 2003. Ajo Motorsport has won six 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 and 2016 with Brad Binder, and the Moto2 championship in 2015 and 2016, both with Johann Zarco.[1]

History

Marc Márquez at the 2010 Dutch TT

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. 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.

Grand Prix motorcycle results

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

Season	Class	Team	Machine	No	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Points	Drivers
2001	125cc	Team Red Devil Honda	Honda	36	Mika Kallio	JPN	RSA	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER Ret	CZE	POR	VAL Ret	PAC	AUS	MAL	RIO				–	0
2002	125cc	Red Devil Honda	Honda	36	Mika Kallio	JPN Ret	RSA 12	SPA 5	FRA 8	ITA Ret	CAT 9	NED Ret	GBR Ret	GER 9	CZE 10	POR 8	RIO 8	PAC 6	MAL 7	AUS Ret	VAL 16				11th	78
2003	125cc	Ajo Motorsport	Honda	8	Masao Azuma	JPN 17	RSA 9	SPA 11	FRA 10	ITA 14	CAT 22	NED Ret	GBR 13	GER Ret	CZE 13	POR 13	RIO Ret	PAC 13	MAL 5	AUS 2	VAL 15				16th	64
				36	Mika Kallio	JPN 11	RSA 7	SPA 16	FRA Ret	ITA 13	CAT 7	NED 11	GBR 7	GER 10	CZE	POR	RIO	PAC	MAL	AUS	VAL				11th	88
				39	Hiroyuki Kikuchi	JPN	RSA	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE DNS	POR	RIO	PAC	MAL	AUS	VAL				–	0
				50	Andrea Ballerini	JPN	RSA	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE Ret	POR Ret	RIO Ret	PAC 20	MAL 19	AUS 1	VAL Ret				22nd	25
2004	125cc	Ajo Motorsport	Honda RS125R	31	Max Sabbatani	RSA	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	RIO	GER	GBR	CZE	POR	JPN	QAT Ret	MAL Ret	AUS 25	VAL Ret				–	0
				38	Mikko Kyyhkynen	RSA	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT 25	NED 25	RIO Ret	GER	GBR	CZE	POR	JPN	QAT	MAL	AUS	VAL				–	0
				52	Lukáš Pešek	RSA 20	SPA Ret	FRA 14	ITA 15	CAT Ret	NED Ret	RIO 15	GER 17	GBR 12	CZE Ret	POR 8	JPN Ret	QAT 17	MAL Ret	AUS 12	VAL Ret				21st	20
				69	Robbin Harms	RSA 18	SPA Ret	FRA Ret	ITA Ret	CAT	NED	RIO	GER 19	GBR 17	CZE 11	POR Ret	JPN	QAT	MAL	AUS	VAL				30th	5
2005	125cc	Ajo Motorsport	Honda RS125R	7	Alexis Masbou	SPA Ret	POR 13	CHN 21	FRA Ret	ITA 10	CAT Ret	NED 5	GBR Ret	GER DSQ	CZE Ret	JPN 20	MAL 14	QAT 20	AUS 10	TUR Ret	VAL Ret				18th	28
				71	Tomoyoshi Koyama	SPA Ret	POR 6	CHN 5	FRA Ret	ITA 5	CAT 5	NED 7	GBR Ret	GER Ret	CZE Ret	JPN 4	MAL 10	QAT 14	AUS 2	TUR 3	VAL 6				8th	119
2006	125cc	Malaguti Ajo Corse	Malaguti 125	7	Alexis Masbou	SPA DNS	QAT DNS	TUR 20	CHN Ret	FRA 29	ITA Ret	CAT Ret	NED Ret	GBR	GER 25	CZE 23	MAL DNS	AUS	JPN	POR	VAL				–	0
				40	Nico Vivarelli	SPA	QAT	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	MAL	AUS	JPN	POR	VAL 35				–	0
				71	Tomoyoshi Koyama	SPA 12	QAT 15	TUR 9	CHN 9	FRA 13	ITA 15	CAT DNS	NED	GBR	GER 15	CZE 16	MAL Ret	AUS 12	JPN 7	POR 6	VAL 14				15th	49
				73	Kazuya Otani	SPA	QAT	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	MAL	AUS	JPN Ret	POR 28	VAL				–	0
				90	Hiroaki Kuzuhara	SPA	QAT	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED 28	GBR 26	GER	CZE	MAL	AUS	JPN	POR	VAL				29th	1
				95	Georg Fröhlich	SPA	QAT	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR 32	GER	CZE	MAL	AUS	JPN	POR	VAL				–	0
2007	125cc	Ajo Motorsport	Derbi	60	Michael Ranseder	QAT 13	SPA 9	TUR 12	CHN 7	FRA 14	ITA 11	CAT 10	GBR 20	NED 9	GER 10	CZE 8	RSM 10	POR Ret	JPN 9	AUS 22	MAL Ret	VAL 13			12th	73
				95	Robert Mureșan	QAT Ret	SPA 18	TUR 22	CHN 26	FRA 23	ITA 19	CAT 24	GBR 16	NED Ret	GER 17	CZE Ret	RSM 29	POR 23	JPN Ret	AUS DNQ	MAL 23	VAL 22			–	0
2008	125cc	Ajo Motorsport	Derbi	63	Mike Di Meglio	QAT 4	SPA 9	POR 7	CHN 2	FRA 1	ITA 4	CAT 1	GBR 2	NED 7	GER 1	CZE 2	RSM Ret	IND 10	JPN 2	AUS 1	MAL 5	VAL 3			1st	264
				77	Dominique Aegerter	QAT 17	SPA 8	POR 12	CHN 17	FRA 23	ITA 24	CAT 12	GBR 19	NED 16	GER 10	CZE 14	RSM 8	IND 11	JPN 19	AUS Ret	MAL 8	VAL Ret			16th	45
		Ajo Motorsports Junior Project		84	Robert Gull	QAT	SPA	POR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	GBR	NED 27	GER	CZE	RSM	IND	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL			–	0
2009	125cc	Ajo Interwetten	Derbi	11	Sandro Cortese	QAT 3	JPN 6	SPA 6	FRA 12	ITA 10	CAT 9	NED Ret	GER 6	GBR Ret	CZE 6	IND 18	RSM 5	POR 2	AUS 3	MAL 6	VAL 8				6th	130
				77	Dominique Aegerter	QAT 11	JPN 9	SPA 9	FRA 6	ITA 19	CAT 20	NED 13	GER 9	GBR 8	CZE 18	IND 10	RSM 15	POR 8	AUS 12	MAL 14	VAL 11				13th	70.5
		Ajo Motorsport	Honda	81	Eeki Kuparinen	QAT	JPN	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER Ret	GBR	CZE	IND	RSM	POR	AUS	MAL	VAL				–	0
2010	125cc	Red Bull Ajo Motorsport	Derbi	11	Sandro Cortese	QAT 5	SPA 11	FRA 6	ITA Ret	GBR 6	NED 5	CAT 4	GER 3	CZE 16	IND 2	RSM 5	ARA 5	JPN 12	MAL 6	AUS Ret	POR Ret	VAL 5			7th	143
			Aprilia	26	Adrián Martín	QAT 20	SPA 13	FRA 15	ITA WD	GBR 16	NED 16	CAT 11	GER Ret	CZE 11	IND Ret	RSM 15	ARA 11	JPN 9	MAL 13	AUS 11	POR Ret	VAL Ret			15th	35
			Derbi	93	Marc Márquez	QAT 3	SPA Ret	FRA 3	ITA 1	GBR 1	NED 1	CAT 1	GER 1	CZE 7	IND 10	RSM 1	ARA Ret	JPN 1	MAL 1	AUS 1	POR 1	VAL 4			1st	310
2011	125cc	Avant-AirAsia-Ajo	Derbi	5	Johann Zarco	QAT 6	SPA 3	POR 3	FRA 5	CAT 6	GBR 2	NED 5	ITA 2	GER 2	CZE 2	IND 5	RSM 2	ARA 2	JPN 1	AUS 3	MAL 3	VAL Ret			2nd	262
				7	Efrén Vázquez	QAT 4	SPA 9	POR 6	FRA 3	CAT 5	GBR 5	NED 7	ITA 4	GER Ret	CZE Ret	IND 6	RSM 3	ARA 4	JPN Ret	AUS 4	MAL 11	VAL 4			7th	160
				63	Zulfahmi Khairuddin	QAT 19	SPA 10	POR 11	FRA 19	CAT Ret	GBR 18	NED 14	ITA 18	GER 24	CZE 9	IND 19	RSM 27	ARA Ret	JPN 15	AUS 20	MAL 7	VAL 25			18th	30
		Red Bull Ajo Motorsport	Aprilia	52	Danny Kent	QAT 13	SPA 4	POR 15	FRA 17	CAT 11	GBR 10	NED 6	ITA 15	GER 9	CZE Ret	IND 13	RSM 6	ARA 6	JPN 9	AUS 22	MAL 10	VAL 17			11th	82
				94	Jonas Folger	QAT 5	SPA 2	POR 5	FRA 6	CAT 3	GBR 1	NED 8	ITA Ret	GER 7	CZE DNS	IND 9	RSM 9	ARA 10	JPN 6	AUS Ret	MAL 6	VAL 5			6th	161
2012	Moto3	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	11	Sandro Cortese	QAT 3	SPA 3	POR 1	FRA 6	CAT 2	GBR 3	NED 2	GER 1	ITA 3	IND 2	CZE 3	RSM 1	ARA 2	JPN 6	MAL 1	AUS 1	VAL 2			1st	325
				52	Danny Kent	QAT 8	SPA Ret	POR 8	FRA Ret	CAT 20	GBR 6	NED 3	GER Ret	ITA 5	IND 12	CZE 7	RSM 12	ARA 4	JPN 1	MAL 6	AUS 5	VAL 1			4th	154
				61	Arthur Sissis	QAT 7	SPA Ret	POR 13	FRA 5	CAT 22	GBR 8	NED 16	GER 9	ITA Ret	IND 11	CZE 14	RSM 10	ARA 9	JPN 11	MAL 11	AUS 3	VAL 19			12th	84
		AirAsia-SIC-Ajo		63	Zulfahmi Khairuddin	QAT 6	SPA 10	POR 4	FRA Ret	CAT 8	GBR 9	NED 11	GER 6	ITA 9	IND 6	CZE Ret	RSM 11	ARA Ret	JPN 5	MAL 2	AUS Ret	VAL 3			7th	128
2013	Moto3	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	39	Luis Salom	QAT 1	AME 3	SPA 2	FRA 3	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 1	GER 2	IND 5	CZE 1	GBR 1	RSM 4	ARA 4	MAL 1	AUS 3	JPN Ret	VAL 14			3rd	302
				61	Arthur Sissis	QAT 8	AME 12	SPA 12	FRA 13	ITA 18	CAT 10	NED 8	GER 10	IND 6	CZE 14	GBR 24	RSM 15	ARA 9	MAL 19	AUS 16	JPN 16	VAL 18			15th	59
				63	Zulfahmi Khairuddin	QAT 6	AME 7	SPA 7	FRA Ret	ITA 11	CAT 9	NED 17	GER 16	IND 7	CZE 15	GBR 20	RSM 6	ARA Ret	MAL DNS	AUS 11	JPN Ret	VAL 13			12th	68
		Touchline–SIC–AJO		79	Aizat Malik	QAT	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	MAL Ret	AUS	JPN	VAL			–	0
				80	Hafiq Azmi	QAT	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	MAL Ret	AUS	JPN	VAL			–	0
2014	Moto3	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	8	Jack Miller	QAT 1	AME 1	ARG 3	SPA 4	FRA 1	ITA Ret	CAT 4	NED Ret	GER 1	IND 3	CZE 5	GBR 6	RSM 3	ARA 27	JPN 5	AUS 1	MAL 2	VAL 1		2nd	276
				98	Karel Hanika	QAT 14	AME 10	ARG Ret	SPA 19	FRA Ret	ITA 10	CAT 14	NED Ret	GER Ret	IND 13	CZE 15	GBR 12	RSM Ret	ARA 23	JPN 12	AUS 13	MAL 9	VAL 10		18th	44
		SIC–AJO		38	Hafiq Azmi	QAT Ret	AME 24	ARG 16	SPA 24	FRA 16	ITA Ret	CAT Ret	NED 29	GER 18	IND 24	CZE 28	GBR 20	RSM 23	ARA 19	JPN 18	AUS 18	MAL 13	VAL 23		28th	3
				88	Hafiza Rofa	QAT	AME	ARG	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL 20	VAL		NC	0
		Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo	Husqvarna	31	Niklas Ajo	QAT 26	AME 14	ARG 8	SPA 10	FRA Ret	ITA 5	CAT 8	NED Ret	GER	IND Ret	CZE 12	GBR 10	RSM Ret	ARA 25	JPN Ret	AUS 9	MAL Ret	VAL Ret		15th	52
				91	Gabriel Rodrigo	QAT	AME	ARG	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER 22	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL		NC	0
		Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo		52	Danny Kent	QAT 13	AME 8	ARG 9	SPA 11	FRA 13	ITA 15	CAT 17	NED 8	GER 5	IND 12	CZE 3	GBR 9	RSM 12	ARA 3	JPN 6	AUS 20	MAL 4	VAL 4		8th	129
2015	Moto2	Ajo Motorsport	Kalex	5	Johann Zarco	QAT 8	AME 2	ARG 1	SPA 2	FRA 3	ITA 2	CAT 1	NED 1	GER 2	IND 2	CZE 1	GBR 1	RSM 1	ARA 6	JPN 1	AUS 7	MAL 1	VAL 7		1st	352
	Moto3	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	41	Brad Binder	QAT 10	AME 5	ARG 5	SPA 3	FRA Ret	ITA 10	CAT 9	NED 7	GER 7	IND 8	CZE 3	GBR Ret	RSM 5	ARA Ret	JPN 17	AUS 3	MAL 2	VAL 4		6th	159
				44	Miguel Oliveira	QAT 16	AME Ret	ARG 4	SPA 2	FRA 8	ITA 1	CAT 5	NED 1	GER DNS	IND 15	CZE 8	GBR 13	RSM 2	ARA 1	JPN 2	AUS 1	MAL 1	VAL 1		2nd	254
				98	Karel Hanika	QAT 13	AME 10	ARG 7	SPA 22	FRA 20	ITA 28	CAT Ret	NED 8	GER 13	IND 12	CZE 26	GBR Ret	RSM 21	ARA Ret	JPN 8	AUS 14	MAL Ret	VAL Ret		18th	43
2016	Moto2	Ajo Motorsport	Kalex	5	Johann Zarco	QAT 12	ARG 1	AME 3	SPA 5	FRA 24	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 2	GER 1	AUT 1	CZE 11	GBR 22	RSM 4	ARA 8	JPN 2	AUS 12	MAL 1	VAL 1		1st	276
				45	Tetsuta Nagashima	QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	AUT	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA 23	JPN 14	AUS	MAL	VAL		32nd	2
	Moto3	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	41	Brad Binder	QAT 2	ARG 3	AME 3	SPA 1	FRA 1	ITA 1	CAT 2	NED 12	GER 8	AUT 2	CZE Ret	GBR 1	RSM 1	ARA 2	JPN 2	AUS 1	MAL 17	VAL 1		1th	319
				64	Bo Bensneyder	QAT 14	ARG 22	AME 22	SPA 21	FRA 16	ITA 18	CAT 11	NED 9	GER 12	AUT 7	CZE 7	GBR 3	RSM Ret	ARA 15	JPN 18	AUS 10	MAL 3	VAL 13		14th	78
2017	Moto2	Ajo Motorsport	KTM	41	Brad Binder	QAT 20	ARG 9	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA 10	CAT 17	NED 13	GER 7	CZE 12	AUT 7	GBR 9	RSM 4	ARA 5	JPN Ret	AUS 2	MAL 2	VAL 3		8th	125
				44	Miguel Oliveira	QAT 4	ARG 2	AME 6	SPA 3	FRA 17	ITA 5	CAT 3	NED 5	GER 2	CZE 3	AUT Ret	GBR 8	RSM Ret	ARA 3	JPN 7	AUS 1	MAL 1	VAL 1		3nd	241
				88	Ricard Cardus	QAT	ARG	AME 14	SPA 14	FRA 3	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL		29th	7
	Moto3	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	23	Niccolo Antonelli	QAT 7	ARG Ret	AME 14	SPA 22	FRA Ret	ITA 16	CAT 11	NED DNS	GER	CZE 24	|AUT Ret	GBR 16	RSM Ret	ARA 18	JPN 2	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	VAL 14		18th	38
				64	Bo Bensneyder	QAT 26	ARG 23	AME DNS	SPA 11	FRA 9	ITA 12	CAT 15	NED Ret	GER 8	CZE 4	AUT Ret	GBR Ret	RSM 6	ARA 17	JPN 9	AUS 16	MAL 10	VAL 12		15th	65
				52	Danny Kent	QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA 10	ITA	CAT	NED	GER Ret	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL		32th	6

References

1. "Triumphant Johann Zarco lifts Moto2 world title". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

External links

• Official website