Friday for Red Bull KTM Ajo sees the Turkish rider head FP1, with Collin Veijer 17th, less than two tenths from Top 14.

Friday at Jerez was the best of the season so far for Red Bull KTM Ajo, with a very strong performance from Deniz Öncü and Collin Veijer. The former managed to top the timesheets in FP1, including setting a circuit record, while the latter achieved his first Top 10 finish in a Free Practice. In the afternoon, Öncü remained among the three fastest riders, and Veijer was closer than ever to Q2, but was finally relegated to 17th.

Aiming to match the start of his Moto3 team-mates, Öncü took the lead just minutes into FP1, coming close to the track record. He went on to break it by more than 4 tenths on his second run, with a time of 1:39.836 that earned him the top spot in the opening session of the Spanish Grand Prix. Veijer, meanwhile, also started strongly, and was in the Top 20. After a pit stop, the Dutchman took another step forward, achieving his best practice result to date with tenth. His fastest time was a 1:41.087, less than 3 tenths off his best lap from the IRTA test at Jerez. He completed a total of 18 laps, the same number as his teammate.

For Practice, the track was even hotter than in the morning. Öncü trusted in his Time Attack for a fast time, and focused on his race pace for most of the session. In the decisive stage and on fresh tyres, he rose above his rivals and, finally, with a 1:40.629, the Turkish rider finished third. He put in a total of 19 laps, and made it into Q2. Two fewer laps were set by Veijer, who was close to making the cut for Q2. The rookie rider held places in the Top 14 for much of the session, but was unable to improve his lap time on the final laps and eventually dropped to 17^th. His best time was a 1:41.247.

Deniz Öncü and Collin Veijer are already preparing to give the Red Bull KTM Ajo another good day’s racing on Saturday with speed on both sides of the box. The first session of the day will be Free Practice 2, which starts at 9:25 a.m. (local time). Following this, Qualifying will see Veijer in action in Q1 (1:45 p.m. local time), trying to join Öncü in Q2 at 2:10 p.m.

Results Practice
1. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:40.142
2. Barry Baltus (Kalex) | 1:40.480 +0.338
3. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1.40.629 +0.487
4. Senna Agius (Kalex) | 1:40.631 +0.489
5. Albert Arenas (Kalex) | 1:40.731 +0.589
17. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:41.247 +1.105

#53 DENIZ ÖNCÜ

“This is a good way to start the weekend. We were able to stay in the top positions during the whole day, so that’s very good news for the team and also for me. Everything we did on track today was positive, and we know what we have to do. My riding style lets me be fast here, but we’re not so competitive on the fast corners and we will do our best tomorrow in Qualifying to place as high as I can on the grid. Now it’s important to understand how to improve, so we will check all the data to be better on Saturday.”

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“The feeling was good today here in Jerez. In the morning, we were quite fast and we finished Free Practice 1 top, which gives us some extra confidence. In the afternoon, the session was more difficult because of the high temperatures, but overall we pushed a lot to improve our lap time. The bike was fresh at the start of the session and we tried to make our Time Attack at the beginning. Finally, we were able to finish in 17th. We were close to getting Q2, but it was not enough. Nevertheless, we’ll keep improving and for sure it was one of the best Fridays we’ve had until today, so let’s continue on this path tomorrow.”