Ajo’s world titles

Born: 22 October, 1964 Lives: Tampere, Finland

2008 Mike Di Meglio, Derbi, 125cc

» Di Meglio had won a single victory in his previous four seasons and had never even finished in a championship top ten. Everything changed with Ajo behind him and a factory Derbi beneath him. The 20-year-old Frenchman won four GPS and comfortably took the title.

2010 Marc Marquez, Derbi, 125cc

» When Marquez joined Ajo in the spring of 2010 he had already done two seasons of GPS, during which he’d scored podium finishes. The 17-year-old won his first GP at Mugello 2010 and won nine of the last 12 races to clinch Ajo’s second world championship.

2012 Sandro Cortese, KTM, Moto3

» This was the first year of Moto3 and Ajo’s first year with the KTM factory, who showed their faith by putting him in charge of their official team. The Austrian’s definitely had an advantage over Honda, who didn’t run a factory team, and Cortese won the title.

2015/2016 Johann Zarco, Kalex, Moto2

» Zarco first rode for Ajo in 2011, when he scored his first GP victory in 125. He moved to Moto2 in 2012 but didn’t win a race until he returned to Ajo in 2015, when he won eight races and the title. He retained the crown in 2016, with seven wins, then moved to Motogp.

2016 Brad Binder, KTM, Moto3

» Binder joined Ajo in 2015. In 2016 he won his first GP at Jerez, starting from the back of the grid, and dominated the championship. He then rode Moto2 for Ajo and probably would’ve won the 2018 title if he’d had a Kalex chassis and not a KTM.

2021 Remy Gardner, Kalex, Moto2

» Gardner won a single victory in his first five seasons in the Moto2 world championship. He won his first Moto2 race at the end of 2020, then won five races with Ajo in 2021, to take the title, after an in-house battle with impressive rookie team-mate Raul Fernandez.

2021 Pedro Acosta, KTM, Moto3

» 16-year-old Acosta joined Ajo as Red Bull Rookies champion for 2021 and was the sensation of the Moto3 championship. He won second time out, despite starting from pit lane and took a further five wins. This year he scored his first Moto2 pole at Le Mans.