Aron Canet gained seven places to finish 10th in a 9-lap Moto2 dash at the French Grand Prix on Sunday while Deniz Öncü scored two points for 14th. 

After two days of brilliant weather in the north west of France, heavy rain arrived on Sunday morning. The shower had stopped by 11am local time, meaning the track was damp but had dried enough come the Moto2 start to run slick tyres.

As Moto2 riders had no prior wet weather running this weekend, it was declared a Wet Race, with the pit lane remaining open for ten minutes to allow for multiple sighting laps. The start was delayed to 12.20 local time, and race distance was reduced from 22 laps to 14.

The race was then red flagged due to a crash for Jorge Navarro on the third lap and the restart run over a further reduced distance of 9 laps.

The grandstands around the Bugatti Circuit have been packed to capacity since Thursday. And a record 112,167 came through the turnstiles on race day.

Aron Canet, 10th

Starting from 17th, Aron immediately gained positions into the first chicane to sit 13th at the end of lap one.

The 26-year was soon involved in a ferocious fight for tenth place. Thanks to a fine move on Dani Holgado on lap eight, Aron collected 10th, his best result of the season to date.

This result puts Aron 15th in the championship standings with 11.5 points.

“This was a good race – but we want more” 

Aron’s comments:

“It’s the best position of the year so far! I feel like we’ve made another step forward this weekend and this was a good race. I could make some nice overtakes and showed some decent pace. But we want more. My expectations are just like the team’s. We want to win races and be fighting to win them every weekend. We’ll never give up and will keep working like we have this weekend. Now I can’t wait for Montmeló next week and my home GP!” 

Deniz Öncü, 14th 

Launching from 21st on the grid, Deniz made a strong getaway in the restart, gaining four places to sit 17th at the close of lap 1.

The Turkish rider demonstrated some excellent rhythm soon after, posting all of his laps within two tenths of a second from lap three onward to come home in 14th.

Deniz sits 17th in the championship standings with 8.5 points to his name.

“I am adapting my riding style and feeling more comfortable” 

Deniz’s comments:

“We finished the French Grand Prix here in Le Mans. The conditions were tricky, but it was the same for everyone. We thought it’d be raining for our race but as soon as we went on track, we saw it was dry enough for slicks. We made some improvements and I keep on understanding more about the bike with each exit. I’m quite happy that we made up some places in that race and my times were consistent. I am adapting my riding style and feeling more comfortable. Next up is Barcelona next week and now we’ll focus on that.”