The Turkish rider sets the seventeenth fastest time in Moto2 qualifying.

Deniz Öncü was the sole Red Bull KTM Ajo rider in action in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, after teammate Celestino Vietti was declared unfit on Friday. The Turkish rider went into Q2 and placed seventeenth.

Practice 2 for the intermediate class was held in wet conditions. The low temperatures and wind made riding difficult, causing numerous crashes among the Moto2 field. Faced with the impossibility of improving his times and with a direct spot in Q2 assured, Öncü took the opportunity to continue gaining confidence with his bike. After a pit stop, improved lap after lap, setting the sixteenth best time of the session with a 1:46.701.

In qualifying he did not have the best feeling and had to fight to get a good starting position for the Australian Grand Prix. Conditions were different again, with the track dry. Öncü lowered his times steadily, but his 1:32.165 on his penultimate lap only allowed him to finish seventeenth. Unfortunately, he also received a penalty of three grid positions for riding slowly and disturbing other riders, so he will start the race in twentieth place, on the seventh row.

The 23-laps Moto2 Australian Grand Prix race will take place tomorrow at 12:15 pm, local time.

Results Quailfying
1. Fermin Aldeguer (Boscoscuro) 1:30.876
2. Aron Canet (Kalex) 1:31.072 +0.196
3. Alonso Lopez (Boscoscuro) 1:31.144 +0.268
4. Marcos Ramirez (Kalex) 1:31.168 +0.292
5. Barry Baltus (Kalex) 1:31.413 +0.537
17. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:32.165 +1.289

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ
“Our qualifying session wasn’t what we expected today. It was really hard for me because of the conditions, but tomorrow I hope to have a good race in the dry. We received a 3-place penalty, so we will start from 20th. It will be a long race. The objective is to improve my riding and enjoy myself. We’ll keep working and it will be a nice test tomorrow.”