Deniz Öncü just misses out on Q2 in Argentina, with Collin Veijer is a second behind the Top 14.

Friday saw a successful start to the Argentinian GP for the two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders, who had their first experience of the track on a Moto2 bike. After a positive morning and a more difficult afternoon, the pair will try to continue making progress in FP2 before Qualifying, in order to prepare the Q1.

The track conditions improved for the intermediate class riders compared to Moto3, and they were able to complete FP1 in mostly dry conditions. Öncü had the same good feeling from Friday that he had enjoyed in Buriram, making a fast start at Termas de Río Hondo. The Turkish rider, with a best time of 1:45.229, finished 8th after twelve laps. Veijer focused on accumulating as many kilometres as possible to understand the Moto2 bike’s behaviour at the Argentinian track. With a time of 1:47.053, the Dutchman finished the first session of the weekend in 26th.

After the midday break, Practice took place without any moisture on the asphalt, albeit with grey skies. Öncü once again had a good feeling, although he had to battle until the end to make it directly into Q2. In those positions throughout the session, he was unable to improve on his Time Attack and had to settle for 14th. However, a lap given back to another rider finally relegated him to P15, so he will have to go through Q1. His best time was a 1:42.710, from seventeen laps. 

Veijer struggled slightly more to adapt to the track. In order to get better acquainted, he was one of the riders with the most laps completed on Friday, with 18 in the morning and 17 in the afternoon. In Practice his best time was a 1:43.885, placing him 27th.

The Moto2 riders will begin their Saturday activity with Free Practice 2, from 9:25 a.m. local time. In the afternoon, both Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders will be two of the protagonists in Q1, starting at 1:45 p.m. They will try to join Q2 at 2:10 p.m.

Practice Results
1. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) 1:41.713
2. Alonso Lopez (Boscoscuro) 1:41.873 +0.160
3. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) 1:41.888 +0.175
4. Marcos Ramirez (Kalex) 1:42.145 +0.432
5. Barry Baltus (Kalex) 1:42.276 +0.563
15. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.710 +0.997
27. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:43.885 +2.172

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“The first day, with changing conditions, is over. In the morning the track was a little bit slippery, but at least in the afternoon we could ride in dry conditions. In Practice we managed to make into the Top 14, but an external change into the standings send us to Q1 . It wasn’t the session I wanted and we were a little bit unlucky, but we’ll try to do a good Saturday tomorrow. It will be important to improve small things in FP2 before going to Qualifying, so we’ll focus on the morning session.”

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“We had a difficult feeling today. This morning the track was half-and-half, so we had to work with difficult conditions and try our best. In the afternoon, I didn’t have much feeling. I tried to push, but our pace wasn’t good, so we have to find our way to improve tomorrow. It’s important to get back a good feeling to fight during the entire weekend, so now we have to focus and work to stay closer during Qualifying -and also the race.”