The Turkish Red Bull KTM Ajo rider sets the ninth fastest time of the day. His teammate suffers a crash in the morning that prevents him from taking part in Practice.

The first day of the Australian Grand Prix was a mixed one for Red Bull KTM Ajo. Celestino Vietti suffered an early crash in the morning’s Free Practice that brought his weekend to a premature conclusion, whilst Deniz Öncü completed a solid Friday and set the ninth fastest time of the day.

The morning Free Practice was not an easy session for the Red Bull KTM Ajo duo. The rain and track conditions made riding difficult, and Vietti and Öncü went out looking for a good setup and to adapt to the Australian track. However, Vietti suffered a heavy crash after only five laps, and was unable to resume the session. After a visit to the medical centre, he was declared unfit to ride and will not participate in the rest of the weekend.

Öncü was left as the only representative for Red Bull KTM Ajo in the intermediate class. The Turkish rider completed a steady Free Practice in the morning, making progress and improving his times lap after lap. Öncü even fought for the Top 3, reaching as high as fourth place. After 18 laps, the Moto2 rookie was sixth thanks to his 1:42.276 on his 15th lap. In the afternoon session, Öncü continued to move forward and, with better track conditions in the dry, he was able to improve his times considerably. Very competitive from start to finish, he topped the timesheets at one point before placing ninth, setting a 1:33.600 on his last lap.

Qualifying sessions for the intermediate class will take place on Saturday from 1:45 pm, local time.

Results Practice 1
1. Fermin Aldeguer (Boscoscuro) 1:32.718
2. Aron Canet (Kalex) 1:32.995 +0.277
3. Alonso Lopez (Boscoscuro) 1:33.025 +0.307
4. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) 1:33.155 +0.437
5. Jake Dixon (Kalex) 1:33.221 +0.503
9. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:33.600 +0.882
NC. Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo)

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“We have finished the first day here in Australia. It has been a good day for us, because it was very easy to crash in those tricky conditions, but we didn’t. My teammate crashed and was injured, so I wish him a speedy recovery. Tomorrow in Qualifying I will try to do my best, and hopefully it can be good and we can have a good race on Sunday, which is my target for the weekend.”