Promotion: Moto3 rookie Salmela will ride for KTM Ajo in 2027 and 2028

Finnish rider Rico Salmela is competing in his rookie season in the Moto3 World Championship in 2026. He is team-mate to Argentine rider Valentin Perrone at Team KTM Tech3. Salmela is fast and has already achieved several top-six finishes. The 18-year-old currently sits 12th in the World Championship standings with 70 points. He is in fourth place in the Rookie of the Year standings with seven races remaining this year.

Salmela is set to be promoted next year. He will therefore race for Red Bull KTM Ajo in the 2027 and 2028 seasons. He is the third Finnish rider to join the team – the previous two were Mika Kallio in the 125cc class and the current team manager Niklas Ajo in the Moto3 World Championship. Salmela has also been supported for several years by Aki Ajo, Niklas’s father.

“I’m absolutely delighted to now be part of the Ajo family. I’ve been working with Niklas and Aki for many years, and to be honest, they’ve been supporting me for a long time. So I can only thank them both – as well as Red Bull and KTM, who continue to place their trust in me. I’m simply incredibly grateful to them all,” said Rico Salmela. “This is a dream I’ve had since I was a child. Joining a Finnish team that’s among the very best in this sport is just brilliant. Sometimes dreams do come true, so I can’t wait to work with this team. Let’s try to prepare as best we can for next year and have fun doing it, together with everyone involved in this project.”

Finnish connection: Aki and Niklas Ajo as long-standing supporters

“Naturally, we’re absolutely delighted to sign Rico for our Moto3 team in 2027. We’ve known Rico since he was a child, when he began his career in Finland, and the dedication he showed even back then is something we’ve rarely seen,” said team manager Niklas Ajo. “His path to the World Championship has certainly not been the easiest, but we are very proud of his progress, particularly in recent years, and we are full of anticipation and confident that we can provide him with the necessary resources to take the next steps in his career.”

Salmela’s team-mate next year will be Brian Uriarte, who is delivering top performances in his rookie season – most recently, the Spaniard finished second at Spielberg. Uriarte is currently fourth in the overall standings with 174 points. He leads the rookie standings by a clear margin.

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“We’re delighted to continue working with Brian, who has already shown in just one season that he’ll be one of the riders to watch out for next year,” said Niklas Ajo of Uriarte. “His development during his rookie year has been impressive, and we can certainly expect great things from him in the years to come. We are very confident that next year we will once again have one of the strongest duos in Moto3, a duo that has also grown together as part of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup programme – something that is always of great importance to our project and everyone involved, starting with KTM, Red Bull and the other partners.”

In the Red Bull Rookies Cup, Salmela secured one victory between 2022 and 2024 and a total of ten podium finishes. He finished 7th, 4th and 4th overall in the junior series over three seasons. In addition, Salmela competed in the JuniorGP category for two years. In this series too, he secured one victory each in 2024 and 2025, as well as numerous podium finishes.