The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider lowered his times from the FP1 to the FP2 today at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit.

The 2019 Moto3 World Championship comes to an end this weekend with the Valencia Grand Prix and Can Öncü is determined to sign off the year with a positive result. The Turkish youngster had one of his best Fridays of the season today, producing competitive times in the two free practices at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit. With FP1 and FP2 completed, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rookie concluded the first day of the Valencia GP with a good feeling.

Low temperatures early in the morning would not prevent Can Öncü from starting the Valencia GP well, leading FP1 provisionally. The young Turk stayed in the top half of the timesheets throughout, demonstrating a strong level and gradually reducing his times with each run. On lap 15 of a total of 17 completed, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rookie recorded his personal best of the session – 1:40.875 – to put him 10th.

In FP2, Can underlined his good form, beating his best morning time by five tenths of a second, – 1:40.324. The 16-year-old used the session to improve his pace whilst riding alone. Öncü finished a very tight FP2 – with 25 riders split by just 0.9s – in 18th position, just 0.077s off the provisional Q2 places.

Tomorrow, Can Öncü has one last free practice before qualifying, which will take place at 12:35 pm (Q1) and 1 pm (Q2) local time, respectively.

Combined practice times (FP1 – FP2)
1. Jaume Masia (KTM) 1:39.612
2. Sergio Garcia (Honda) 1:39.681 +0.069
3. Marcos Ramirez (Honda) 1:39.767 +0.155
4. Xavier Artigas (Honda) 1:39.856 +0.244
5. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Honda) 1:39.875 +0.263
18. Can Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:40.324 +0.712

63 CAN ÖNCÜ

“Today we had a good feeling, both FP1 and FP2 went well. Also, I was able to ride for some laps on my own and that is a positive sign. In the afternoon, it took us a bit more time to find the right set-up, but tomorrow morning we will work to solve this issue. I’m looking forward to FP3 so I can give it my maximum effort, as I want to get into Q2.”