Can Oncu, a 15-year-old Turk racing his first ever Grand Prix, crossed the finish line on one wheel as he clinched victory in the Moto3 race in Valencia on Sunday.
The ecstatic winner is so young that he was not allowed to celebrate with champagne on the winner’s podium and was instead showered with it by the runner up Jorge Martin and third placed Briton John McPhee.
The Turkish teenager, aged 15 years and 119 days, ran away with the race in the end, winning by a margin of more than four seconds after race leader Tony Arbolino crashed out.
‘It’s incredible. I have no idea what is going on,’ said Oncu. ‘I hope this will get me back here next year,’ he added, and whose team manager may have raised an eye-brow when Oncu pulled a huge, high speed ‘wheelie’ to cross the line.
The previous record was held by British rider Scott Redding, who was 15 years and 170 days old when he won his first Moto3 race in 2008 in the UK. Oncu has now broken that record.
There was a critical moment for Oncu on the final lap as he nearly came off his bike as nerves began to play its part. However, he managed to recover to win his first ever race on what was his debut.
Oncu had already broken the record for the youngest-ever rider in Moto3 but his victory ensured a weekend of celebrations in Spain for Red Bull.
