The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider continued to make steady progress, improving his pace from FP1 to FP2.

The Turkish youngster had a solid first day at the Aragon GP, provisionally riding among the top competitors in the morning session and lowering his lap time by more than a second in the afternoon. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider finished 21st on the combined timesheets on Friday, on his second visit to MotorLand in 2019, following his ride there in the FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship in July.

In the morning, Öncü used the first few minutes of FP1 to get reacquainted with the circuit and the bike. By the half-way point of the session he had taken a big step forward: he reduced his lap time by over four seconds, provisionally placing himself in the Top 10. After completing a total of 15 laps, Deniz ended up 22nd, thanks to a 2:01.041 he recorded on his last run.

In the afternoon, the 16-year-old headed back out onto the MotorLand track to continue his progression at the Spanish venue. After a total of 13 laps and 3 runs, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider went under the two-minute mark, with his personal best of the day – 1:59.958 – coming on his final lap. The Turkish youngster therefore finished Friday in 21st position.

Tomorrow Motorland Aragon will host the last free practice in the morning, followed by the qualifying in the afternoon, which will be held at 12:35 pm (Q1) and 1 pm (Q2) local time.

Combined practice times (FP1 – FP2)
1. Andrea Migno (KTM) 1:58.566
2. Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda) 1:58.652 +0.086
3. Tony Arbolino (Honda) 1:58.732 +0.166
4. Jaume Masia (KTM) 1:58.784 +0.218
5. Ayumu Sasaki (Honda) 1:59.014 +0.448
21. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:59.958 +1.392

53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“FP1 was hard, as I couldn’t get comfortable on the bike and it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. Even so, we provisionally placed ourselves in the Top 10. The afternoon session started in the same way, but fortunately in the last 10 minutes I got the good feeling back and I was able to push more. On the last lap I produced a solid time, but I made a mistake that meant I lost a bit of ground. Tomorrow our goal will be to try to have a good FP3 and make the cut for Q2.”