The Turkish rider makes it into Q2 and earns fourth row on the grid. Veijer will start 25th.

It was a good Saturday at the Grand Prix of the Americas for Red Bull KTM Ajo, as Deniz Öncü made the cut for Q2 and posted his best ever time at Austin, for tenth place. Collin Veijer made good progress throughout the day, confirming his improvement in performance in his final laps of Q1.

The track finally dried out for FP2 in Austin, leaving practically perfect conditions. The laps were fast: Just six-tenths of a second separated the track record from the first-place finisher. Öncü showed a similar pace to Friday morning, among the quickest in the class, and with a best time of 2:09.143 from 10 laps, he secured seventh place. Veijer, meanwhile, struggled a bit more than he had in the rain. With 14 laps completed, making him once again the rider with the most laps in Austin, the Dutchman finished 24th with a quickest time of 2:10.657.

By the afternoon, the sun was out fully, and Öncü was among the top positions early on in Q1. After a pit stop, he put in several very fast laps, gaining places and securing a place in Q2 for the first time this season, with a time of 2:08.292 that earned him fourth place. Veijer had to save a crash in the second sector with skills, but also upped his pace after a trip to the pits. He completed seven laps -the same as his teammate-, rising up the order with a 2:09.254 that was his fastest time of the weekend. He had lowered his morning time by almost a second and a half, placing him 25th on the grid.

Öncü entered Q2 with confidence and more information than many of his rivals, which allowed him to go well from the start. After returning to the garage, he slotted in behind his rivals and once again improved his time to 2:08.058, his best time ever in Austin on a Moto2 bike. He will be tenth on the grid, his best qualifying result of the season.

With the AmericasGP virtually in the bag, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team heads into the most important moment of the weekend confident to do a good race in Austin. The 16-lap Moto2 Grand Prix of the Americas will start at 12:15pm local time on Sunday.

Qualifying Results
1. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) 2:07.432
2. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) 2:07.682 +0.250
3. Barry Baltus (Kalex) 2:07.727 +0.295
4. Zonta van den Goorbergh (Kalex) 2:07.790 +0.358
5. Aron Canet (Kalex) 2:07.806 +0.374
10. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:08.058 +0.626
25. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:09.254 +1.822

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“The second day in America ended with a good feeling and also good results. We took a step forward compared to yesterday and had our best Qualifying of the year, with a great performance in Q1 and a few good laps in Q2. We’re taking the positives away and are thinking about tomorrow, where we will give our best. It will be important to make a good start to fight with the riders at the front, so we will see where our limit is. We definitely want to enjoy ourselves here in Austin and fly to Qatar with more points in the bag.”

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“Today wasn’t our best day. It was a productive one, but not all that we needed. The feeling was not so bad, but we encountered something in Qualifying, and it was a little bit late to recover. We suffered during the first laps of Q1, but the most important thing is that we found where we can be faster. Tomorrow is race day, so we’ll try to enjoy the race and to fight for our first points in Moto2. Austin is an amazing track and it’s always special to race there.”