Tough qualifying session for Can Öncü at Jerez

04/05/2019

The young Turkish rider will start from the ninth row at the Red Bull Grand Prix of Spain, having placed 12th in Q1.

The starting grid for the first European race of the 2019 season was established this Saturday at the Jerez-Angel Nieto Circuit. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rookie came into Q1 with optimism after clocking his personal best of the weekend in FP3, but could not match that marker and will begin the Red Bull Grand Prix of Spain on the ninth row.

Conditions were cloudy and milder than on Friday when Free Practice 3 got underway. Can Öncü was able to put in a total of 17 laps in a fruitful session in which the Turkish rider gained further experience on his bike. On the last of these, he stopped the clock at 1:47.012, more than 8 tenths faster than his top time from Friday, for 23rd.

The 15-year-old rider would have to go through Q1 and he was one of the first riders to take to the track. Over the course of 8 laps, his best time was a 1:47.583; twelfth fastest in the session and giving him 26th on the grid.

The 22-lap Moto3 Red Bull Grand Prix of Spain will be held tomorrow at 11am local time.

Results Moto3 Qualifying session
1. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Honda) 1:46.011
2. Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda) 1:46.015 +0.004
3. Celestino Vietti (KTM) 1:46.195 +0.184
4. Niccolo Antonelli (Honda) 1:46.232 +0.221
5. Dennis Foggia (KTM) 1:46.356 +0.345
26. Can Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:47.583 (Q1 time)

61 CAN ÖNCÜ

Overall, it’s been a tough day for us, especially in qualifying. We started pushing very late on, whereas we should have been smarter and started going for it from the first moment we went out on track. Tomorrow we will start from 26th, but the race is long and I will have to stay calm so as not to make any mistake on the opening laps. I will try my best to get a good result and challenge for points.”

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