Even if Deniz Oncu (20^th) and Aron Canet (24^th) weren’t where they wanted to be at the end of Friday, both riders found positives at the Chang International Circuit.

The 2026 season officially kicked off on Friday in Thailand with the opening Moto2 sessions of the season taking place around the 4.55km track.

Conditions were overcast and muggy throughout the day during FP1 and Practice, as both Aron Canet and Deniz Oncu continued adapting to their 2026 packages.

Their plans for the end of Practice were impacted by a surprise shower of rain at Turn 1, which caused both Adrian Huertas and Senna Agius to crash. Heeding those warnings, neither rider was able to improve in the final minutes.

Aron Canet, 24^th – 1’35.755

Aron’s first official session in Elf Marc VDS Racing Team colours started with an early crash at Turn 1. Thankfully he was unharmed, and went on to finish 22^nd in FP1.

In Practice the Spaniard continued to work. Despite posting some competitive times in the 1’35 on his first run, he wasn’t entirely content with his feeling and placed 24^th.

Continuing to adapt his riding style to his 2026 package, Aron is confident that some tweaks to his set up will pay off on Saturday, when he aims to get into Q2.

“I’m still not fully comfortable with this year’s package”

Aron’s comments:

“It was a really difficult day. I had a strange crash at Turn 1, which I still don’t fully understand. It looks like it was to do with how I was braking and trying to slow down the bike. We lost a lot of track time as a consequence of that. Then in Practice we struggled a lot with our feeling. I’m still not fully comfortable with this year’s package. We need to improve quite a bit tomorrow so I can make Qualifying 2.”

Deniz Oncu, 20^th – 1’35.261

Facing his first Moto2 round since last year’s Grand Prix of Czechia, Deniz immediately felt more at home with his bike in the day’s first session, when he placed 14^th, than during testing.

With a few tweaks to his setting, the Turkish rider posted a solid eight lap run at the start of Practice, when he reeled off a succession of laps in the 1’35s.

The late rain shower meant he couldn’t push for a fast time that could have seen him rise into the top 14 and into Q2. He now feels he’s closer to returning to the leading positions than he previously believed.

“Every time we’re on track I understand more about the character of this bike.”

Deniz’s comments:

“We finished the first official day of the year here in Thailand. Every time we’re on track I understand more about the character of this bike. Also, the team are understanding my riding style and what I need from it. Like we say, every time on track and every lap counts because we’re improving. Still, we are working in the same area. The good thing is we are not lost. We’re getting faster and we know the problems we have. We are just going over them. For sure we can do better. I’m not sure if that’s tomorrow, the next day or the one after that. But the goal has improved. We want to get back up to the positions where we know we can be.”