Deniz Öncü will start from second and Jose Antonio Rueda seventeenth at German Grand Prix.

An intense battle for pole took place at the German Grand Prix in Moto3, with Deniz Öncü once again one of the most consistent riders in the class. He will start from the front row of the grid, in second position, whilst teammate Jose Antonio Rueda will be on the sixth row in 17th.

The weather was once again the protagonist in Practice 3 at Sachsenring and the final Moto3 practice session was held under heavy rain. Rueda focused on gaining confidence in the conditions, despite the delicate state of the track. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider completed 12 laps of the German circuit, setting his best time on his last lap with a 1:44.516. That left him in 25th position. Öncü preferred not to take risks and remained in the garage until the closing minutes. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider finished in eighteenth position with a time of 1:43.420 from his last lap.

Both went straight into Q2, where completely different conditions to those of the morning meant qualifying was held in the dry. Öncü and Rueda went out from the start in search of a good lap time. Öncü showed great pace and quickly occupied the top positions. After 9 laps, he was up into second position thanks to a 1:26.222, and the time was good enough for a fourth front row of the season. Rueda continued working with his bike in search of the best possible feeling, as well as a time that would allow him to start as high up the order as possible. The Moto3 rookie had struggled with the changing conditions throughout the weekend, and fought until the end of the session to up his pace. He will start from 17th on the grid, with a time of 1:27.592, set on his third lap of seven.

The 23-lap Moto3 race will take place on Sunday from 11 AM.

Results (Qualifying)
1. Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) 1:25.130
2. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:26.222 +1.092
3. Ivan Ortola (KTM) 1:26.285 +1.155
4. Collin Veijer (Husqvarna) 1:26.641 +1.511
5. David Muñoz (KTM) 1:26.648 +1.518
17. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:27.592 +2.462

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

It’s good to start on the first row here in Sachsenring. This weekend I haven’t got a perfect feeling with the conditions, but we are still up at the front. The goal tomorrow is to be in the front group and on the final laps maybe we can fight for the win. You never know what can happen during the race, and we will try until the end.

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

Practice 3 was in the wet and we were able to improve a little more, although we know that we have much more room for improvement. In qualifying I went out alone to set a time by myself. Tomorrow we will start from the sixth row, so. It will be important to get a good start to be able to be up at the front.