Celestino Vietti finishes eleventh on Friday at Misano, with Deniz Öncü 29th.

The Emilia Romagna GP had an atypical start at Misano on Friday, and the morning conditions prevented the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders from making the most of all the sessions. Celestino Vietti finished in eleventh position after working with the team to fine-tune his setup. Deniz Öncü placed 29th.

The first session of the weekend presented a difficult surface for the intermediate class riders. Despite the fact that the Free Practice was held in the wet, dry sections forced them to take extra caution to avoid making mistakes. The Red Bull KTM Ajo duo took advantage of the opportunity to gain experience in the wet, improving their times lap after lap. Vietti was consistent in the morning and, after a pit stop, the Italian rider set his best time of 1:43.082 to place 14th. Öncü, however, had been feeling unwell the previous days, and was not at 100%. The Turkish rider focused on using each lap to continue improving with the Moto2 bike, in a session where many riders opted against going out. With 19 laps under his belt, Öncü achieved his best time on his last lap -a 1:41.393 putting him in an outstanding eighth position.

In the afternoon session, the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders concentrated on continuing to prepare for qualifying and this Sunday’s race. Vietti pushed to find a good setup for his bike and a strong strategy for the weekend, and managed to lower his times and get closer to the fastest riders. He set the eleventh best time, a 1:35.999, 6 tenths off the leader. Öncü continued to battle the discomfort he was feeling on a very physically demanding circuit. The Moto2 rookie finished in 29th position with a time of 1:37.518, and hopes to make a big step forward to get a place in Q2.

Moto2 qualifying will take place on Saturday, starting at 1:45 pm local time.

Results Practice 1
1. Tony Arbolino (Kalex) 1:35.386
2. Aron Canet (Kalex) 1:35.777 +0.391
3. Diogo Moreira (Kalex) 1:35.795 +0.409
4. Fermin Aldeguer (Boscoscuro) 1:35.800 +0.414
5. Joe Roberts (Kalex) 1:35.809 +0.423
11. Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:35.999 +0.613
29. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:37.518 +2.132

#13 CELESTINO VIETTI
“This morning we couldn’t ride under normal conditions, so we couldn’t try anything for Practice. In the afternoon we started the real work for the weekend and we tried some things to try to understand some details. I think we found a way to improve and I hope that tomorrow it will help us to take a step forward. We have to continue working and have a good qualifying session tomorrow for the race.”

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ
“The first day is done here at Misano. It wasn’t an easy day for us, because I felt unwell before I arrived in Misano and so I wasn’t at 100%. Today we tried our best despite the mixed conditions, but we were not able to try out much during Free Practice. I’m just trying to get better session by session. I hope to feel even better tomorrow to do a good job.”