The Italian rider will start from pole position, with teammate Deniz Öncü fourteenth.

The second day of the Austrian Grand Prix ended well for Red Bull KTM Ajo. Celestino Vietti secured pole position in a tight qualifying session, while Deniz Öncü will start from the fifth row of the grid, in fourteenth.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders started Saturday with a very good feeling. Vietti and Öncü worked hard in Practice 2 to avoid having to enter Q1. Despite the session being interrupted by a red flag, both riders maintained their concentration and improved their times steadily. Vietti was not significantly affected by his previous crash at the circuit, and pushed until the final laps. His best time, a 1:33.784 on the final attempt, put him in eighth place. Öncü was increasingly comfortable and had another solid session. Thanks to his 1:34.005 he took thirteenth position, earning a spot in Q2.

In qualifying, Vietti overcame his discomfort and set a great pace from the start. After the session was stopped due to another red flag, the riders only had 8 minutes to improve their times. The Italian rider gave it his all, although his times from the morning were not surpassed. His 1:33.855 was enough for him to get his second pole in the last three races, continuing his good form. Öncü worked with the team to make further steps forward with his pace, although the high temperatures made it extra difficult in a session where everything was decided in the closing moments. The Turkish rider clocked a best time of 1:34.338, putting him in fourteenth position, although only +0.4s behind his teammate’s pole time.

The Moto2 Austrian Grand Prix will start at 12:15 pm local time on Sunday.

Results Qualifying
1. Celestino Viett (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:33.855
2. Aron Canet (Kalex) 1:33.913 +0.058
3. Sergio Garcia (Boscoscuro) 1:33.993 +0.137
4. Tony Arbolino (Kalex) 1:34.093 +0.238
5. Alonso Lopez (Boscoscuro) 1:34.110 +0.255
14. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:34.338 +0.621

#13 CELESTINO VIETTI

“I am very happy, especially after Friday’s difficult start. We worked well and we improved from yesterday, especially at Turn 3 -which is a place that we struggled with a bit before. Tomorrow it won’t be an easy race, it will be very hot, which makes things more difficult, but we are on the right path. I hope we can battle tomorrow until the end.”

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“It was a positive day. We got directly into Q2 and then we were 14th, so it is a good position for tomorrow’s race. After more than two months out and coming back from an injury, that is not so bad. We have come back in similar condition to where we left off, so that’s very positive. Qualifying was good, although I couldn’t set a clean lap. We’ll do our best and enjoy tomorrow’s race.”