Deniz Öncü and Collin Veijer finish 16th and 21st in Practice but are candidates to qualify for tomorrow’s Q2.

The first day of the Grand Prix of The Americas got underway on Friday for the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders in Austin. After a successful FP1 session for both riders, Practice ended with a bittersweet taste. Deniz Öncü once again missed out on Q2, but will be one of the favourites in Q1 on Saturday. Collin Veijer, meanwhile, had his strongest Friday of the season so far, which will put him and his teammate among the contenders for a Top 4 spot.

Rain made an appearance during FP1 in the intermediate class. As had been the case in preseason and also in Argentina, Öncü felt very comfortable in the tricky conditions, allowing him to fight for the top three positions. His 17 laps completed was the most in Moto2, and he placed third with a best time of 2:20.566. Veijer also made good progress, despite starting far from the front during the first section of Free Practice, but managed to cut the gap to the leader by half. The Dutchman, in his first experience with a Moto2 bike in Austin, managed to finish 22nd with a best time of 2:23.157, after putting in 16 laps.

Practice allowed the intermediate class riders to begin improving their times in drier conditions. However, Öncü couldn’t match his morning performance and, for the third time in a row, just missed out on a direct spot in Q2. He improved his time on his final flying lap for a 2:21.091 that put him 16th, after 15 laps. Veijer showed clear improvement in the afternoon session, and put in more laps than any other rider in the session (17). The Dutchman shaved a second and a half off his best morning time (2:21.679) with his lap a second off 10th place. He was 21st.

With the first day done and dusted, the two Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders are now focusing on tomorrow’s Qualifying, which will be key to securing a good grid position on Sunday. In search of more favourable conditions, Q1 will take place on Saturday from 1:45pm local time. Before that, the pair will participate in FP2 from 9:25am local time.

Results Practice
1. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) 2:18.501
2. Tony Arbolino (Boscoscuro) 2:19.102 +0.601
3. Alonso Lopez (Boscoscuro) 2.19.415 +0.914
4. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) 2:19.929 +1.428
5. Celestino Vietti (Boscoscuro) 2:20.030 +1.529
16. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:21.091 +2.590
21. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:21.679 +3.178

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“We didn’t start in the best way here in Austin. We started very well in the morning, with a lot of feeling, but in the afternoon I was not able to go through to Q2. It’s important to have a good Q1 tomorrow to achieve a better grid position than in the first two Grands Prix. Today we had tricky conditions in the wet, but also it was becoming a little bit dry in Practice. I couldn’t do my best, but I’m sure that Saturday will be better and we will get into Q2.”

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“Today wasn’t a bad day. The feeling was much better than in Termas, so we will just work from there. It’s true that the position is not where we want to be, but every time we go out on track we learn a lot and that’s what matters. We found a good feeling on the wet, so let’s see what we can achieve tomorrow. Overall, we are quite happy and confident for Q1, where I expect to have a better Qualifying than in Thailand and Argentina.”