Ayumu Sasaki

Ayumu Sasaki
Sasaki in 2016
Nationality	Japanese
Born	(2000-10-04) October 4, 2000 Yokosuka, Japan
Current team	Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team
Bike number	22
Motorcycle racing career statistics Moto2 World Championship Active years 2024 Manufacturers Kalex Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 2 0 0 0 0 0 Moto3 World Championship Active years 2016–2023 Manufacturers Honda (2016–2019) KTM (2020–2021) Husqvarna (2022–2023) Championships 0 2023 championship position 2nd (268 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 124 3 22 8 8 822

Ayumu Sasaki (佐々木 歩夢, Sasaki Ayumu, born October 4, 2000) is a Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle racer currently competing in the Moto2 class for the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team. He most recently competed in Moto3 from 2016 to 2023, where he finished runner-up in his final year in the category behind eventual champion Jaume Masià.

Career

Junior career

In 2015 Sasaki was the Asia Talent Cup champion and also competed in the 2015 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, winning a race in Silverstone, and finishing in 2nd twice, and 3rd twice, finishing the season third in the standings.

In the 2016 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, Sasaki won four races, finished on the podium eleven times during the thirteen races, and never finished outside the top four, winning the title by 49 points.

Moto3 World Championship

Gresini Racing Moto3 (2016)

In the 2016 Moto3 World Championship, he made his Grand Prix debut with the Gresini Racing team at the Malaysian Grand Prix as the replacement rider for the injured Enea Bastianini.

SIC Racing Team (2017)

He was signed up to race in the 2017 Moto3 World Championship for Sepang Racing Team, partnering Adam Norrodin. Sasaki had an impressive rookie campaign, finishing in the points eight times, twice in the top ten (8th place in Mugello, and 7th at Phillip Island), and ended up winning rookie of the year, scoring 32 points, finishing 20th in the standings.

Petronas Sprinta Racing (2018–2019)

Staying with Sepang SIC Racing Team for the 2018 Moto3 World Championship, Sasaki basically copied his 2017 campaign: he finished in the points eight times, his two best finishes were a 7th place in Austria, and an 8th place in Qatar, and finished the season 20th in the standings, with 50 points.

For the 2019 Moto3 World Championship, Sasaki would stay with Petronas Sepang Racing Team, but would be partnered by John McPhee. Sasaki improved, with five top-ten finishes (5th in Argentina, 6th in Britain, 7th in Australia, 8th in Barcelona, and 9th in Germany), 11-point scoring finishes, a Pole position at the Sachsenring, finishing the season with 62 points, and 20th in the standings.

Red Bull KTM Tech3 (2020–2021)

Sasaki switched teams for the 2020 Moto3 World Championship, signing with Red Bull KTM Tech3, to partner Deniz Öncü. Sasaki and Öncü were very evenly matched during the year, Sasaki collecting 52 points, and Öncü 50. Sasaki finished in the points eight times, in the top-10 three times, and scored his first career Moto3 podium at Aragón, seeing the checkered flag in 2nd place, just 0.051 seconds behind Jaume Masiá.

Tech3 kept both Öncü and Sasaki for the 2021 season, and both riders improved. Sasaki especially started the season well, with a 7th place in Doha, a 4th place in Portimao, a 5th place in Jerez, a 5th place in Le Mans, and a 5th place in Mugello. On May 29, 2021, in the 2021 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix, Sasaki was involved in an accident with Jason Dupasquier and Jeremy Alcoba. Dupasquier succumbed to his injuries the following day. Following the accident, Sasaki did not participate in the following two races. He returned for Austria, finishing in 5th place, before scoring his only podium of the season in Aragón, finishing 3rd, with Öncü finishing 2nd. He scored 120 points during the year, finishing 9th in the championship standings.

Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max (2022)

For 2022, Sasaki is contracted to race for Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max team, along with 2019 teammate John McPhee.

Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (2023)

In 2023 Moto3 World Championship, he riding for Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP.

Moto2 World Championship

Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp (2024)

Ayumu Sasaki will join the Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp in the 2024 Moto2 Season.

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		Pos	Pts
		R1	R1	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R1	R2
2014	Honda	QAT 3	IDN 4	CHN1 3	CHN2 3	MAL1 Ret	MAL2 1	JAP 1	MYS1 Ret	MYS2	4th	111

Year	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos	Pts
2015	Honda	THA1 2	THA2 2	QAT1 3	QAT2 2	MAL1 1	MAL2 Ret	CHN1 1	CHN2 6	JPN1 1	JPN2 2	SEP1 4	SEP2 7	1st	203

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
2015	JER1 6	JER2 Ret	ASS1 6	ASS2 6	SAC1 2	SAC2 Ret	BRN1 6	BRN2 5	SIL1 3	SIL2 1	MIS 3	ARA1 4	ARA2 2	3rd	161
2016	JER1 2	JER2 1	ASS1 4	ASS2 2	SAC1 1	SAC2 3	RBR1 3	RBR2 2	BRN1 3	BRN2 3	MIS 1	ARA1 4	ARA2 1	1st	250

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
2015	Honda	ALG	LMS	CAT1	CAT2	ARA1	ARA2	ALB	NAV	JER1	JER2	VAL1 3	VAL2 11	21st	21
2016	Honda	VAL1 4	VAL2 Ret	LMS 10	ARA 9	CAT1 3	CAT2 4	ALB 9	ALG Ret	JER1 6	JER2 5	VAL1	VAL2	6th	83

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Team	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
2016	Moto3	Honda	Gresini Racing Moto3	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2017	Moto3	Honda	SIC Racing Team	18	0	0	0	0	32	20th
2018	Moto3	Honda	Petronas Sprinta Racing	17	0	0	0	0	50	20th
2019	Moto3	Honda	Petronas Sprinta Racing	19	0	0	1	0	62	20th
2020	Moto3	KTM	Red Bull KTM Tech3	15	0	1	0	1	52	16th
2021	Moto3	KTM	Red Bull KTM Tech3	16	0	1	0	0	120	9th
2022	Moto3	Husqvarna	Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max	18	2	9	2	1	238	4th
2023	Moto3	Husqvarna	Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP	20	1	11	5	6	268	2nd
2024	Moto2	Kalex	Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team	16	0	0	0	0	7*	26th*
Total				140	3	22	8	8	829

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
Moto3	2016–2023	2016 Malaysia	2020 Teruel	2022 Netherlands	124	3	22	8	8	822	0
Moto2	2024–present	2024 Qatar			16	0	0	0	0	7	0
Total	2016–present				140	3	22	8	8	829	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
2016	Moto3	Honda	QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	AUT	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL Ret	VAL			NC	0
2017	Moto3	Honda	QAT 11	ARG 20	AME 18	SPA 15	FRA 19	ITA 8	CAT 16	NED 15	GER 17	CZE 15	AUT 18	GBR 18	RSM Ret	ARA 16	JPN Ret	AUS 7	MAL 12	VAL 13			20th	32
2018	Moto3	Honda	QAT 8	ARG 16	AME 11	SPA 12	FRA 16	ITA 16	CAT Ret	NED 19	GER 10	CZE 22	AUT 7	GBR C	RSM Ret	ARA	THA Ret	JPN 9	AUS 10	MAL 18	VAL 11		20th	50
2019	Moto3	Honda	QAT Ret	ARG 5	AME Ret	SPA 15	FRA 14	ITA Ret	CAT 8	NED 17	GER 9	CZE 11	AUT 13	GBR 6	RSM Ret	ARA 13	THA Ret	JPN 13	AUS 7	MAL Ret	VAL 19		20th	62
2020	Moto3	KTM	QAT 19	SPA 11	ANC Ret	CZE 20	AUT 13	STY Ret	RSM Ret	EMI 14	CAT 17	FRA 6	ARA 13	TER 2	EUR 10	VAL 19	POR 13						16th	52
2021	Moto3	KTM	QAT Ret	DOH 7	POR 4	SPA 5	FRA 5	ITA 4	CAT Ret	GER	NED	STY 5	AUT Ret	GBR 13	ARA 3	RSM 10	AME 13	EMI 8	ALR 6	VAL 10			9th	120
2022	Moto3	Husqvarna	QAT Ret	INA Ret	ARG 3	AME 4	POR 3	SPA 6	FRA 2	ITA DNS	CAT	GER 4	NED 1	GBR Ret	AUT 1	RSM Ret	ARA 2	JPN 3	THA 2	AUS 4	MAL 2	VAL 5	4th	238
2023	Moto3	Husqvarna	POR 6	ARG Ret	AME Ret	SPA 4	FRA 2	ITA 3	GER 2	NED 2	GBR 2	AUT 3	CAT 4	RSM 7	IND 3	JPN 2	INA 18	AUS 2	THA Ret	MAL 2	QAT 6	VAL 1	2nd	268
2024	Moto2	Kalex	QAT Ret	POR Ret	AME	SPA DNS	FRA 22	CAT Ret	ITA Ret	NED Ret	GER 24	GBR 21	AUT 21	ARA 12	RSM 16	EMI 19	INA 16	JPN 21	AUS Ret	THA 13	MAL WD	VAL	26th*	7*

* Season still in progress.

External links

• Ayumu Sasaki at MotoGP.com
• Ayumu Sasaki at AS.com (in Spanish)
• Profile on redbullrookiescup.com