Celestino Vietti and Deniz Öncü finish Saturday in tenth and fourteenth.

Qualifying sessions for the Italian Grand Prix were held this Saturday at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello. Celestino Vietti set the tenth fastest time and will start from the fourth row, while Deniz Öncü obtained his best result to date and will take off from fourteenth.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto 2 riders carried over their Friday feeling to Saturday at Mugello. Both Vietti and Öncü made progress and set up their bikes in the morning Practice session. With track conditions much more favourable than on Friday, the Moto2 duo quickly upped their pace. Vietti closed the gap to his rivals and managed to reach the Top 5. After 13 laps, he set the fifth best time thanks to his 1:50.271. Öncü, who is enjoying this new class more and more, went one step further and managed to go directly into Q2 for the first time this season, breaking into the Top 10. With a time of 1:50.554, his best time of the day, he finished in tenth position.

Moto2 qualifying took place on Saturday afternoon, with track conditions perfect for the fight for the front positions on the grid. Vietti, who is racing at home this weekend, continued to demonstrate his consistency and progress. The Italian set the tenth best time in the class, 0.6s behind the leader on the timesheets. His 1:50.505 will allow him to start from the fourth row of the grid. Öncü was not able to improve on his morning times due to the increase in temperatures. The Turkish rider gave his all until the end, achieving his best time on his last lap: A 1:50.759 that placed him thirteenth -his best qualifying result since his debut in Moto2.

The 19-lap intermediate class Italian Grand Prix will begin on Sunday at 12:15 pm, local time.

Results Qualifying
1. Joe Roberts (Kalex) 1:49.877
2. Sergio Garcia (Boscoscuro) 1:49.955 +0.078
3. Alonso Lopez (Boscoscuro) 1:50.132 +0.255
4. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) 1:50.248 +0.371
5. Darryn Binder (Kalex) 1:50.346 +0.469
10. Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:50.505 +0.628
14. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:50.759 +0.882

#13 CELESTINO VIETTI

“This morning we found something to help us ride better and to be faster. We are improving every day, in every session, so I’m quite happy. Unfortunately in QP I made some mistakes and therefore I couldn’t set the lap that would give me a better starting position for tomorrow’s race. In the race we will try to have a good pace. We are working well and we can try to have a good race like in Barcelona, so I will push as hard as possible.”

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“It’s been a positive day at Mugello. We have improved a lot this weekend. I got a spot directly into Q2 and that was an important advantage in order to try to get a good lap for tomorrow. There are also still things to improve so we will work to get better. Being optimistic, getting into the points is possible, but the main target at the moment is to get into the Top 10. We’ll push tomorrow.”