Deniz Öncü was pushed back to 16th in the final moments of Practice at Mugello while Aron Canet was 18th and missed out on a top 14 place by just 0.2s. 

Friday’s weather in Tuscany was something of a surprise with early morning rain leaving the circuit wet for Moto2 FP1. After drying up over the course of the 40 minutes, some riders fitted slicks in the final minutes.

That left the afternoon Practice as the only chance for the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team to set their Boscoscuro machines up for the fast, technical 5.25km layout. By then conditions were perfect, with ambient temperatures reaching 27 degrees.

Both Aron and Deniz will have 30 minutes to tweak their respective set-ups in tomorrow morning’s FP2 session, which starts at 9:25 local time, before qualifying gets underway at 13:40.

Aron Canet, 18th – 1’50.607 

Aron used FP1 to gain further experience with his Elf Marc VDS Racing Team Boscoscuro machine in wet conditions as he placed 16th.

The 26-year old put together three runs in Practice. Able to do a host of laps in the 1’51s, Aron’s missed an automatic place in Q2 by less than a tenth of a second after his late time attack.

In dry conditions Aron is among the fastest riders in the high-speed Sector 2 (5th), but will be keen to work on his feeling through the other three sectors before tomorrow’s FP2 session.

“We were quite strong at the start of Practice”

Aron’s comments:

“It was a tricky day here in Mugello. It’s a shame we lost the first session to rain as it meant our dry track time was limited. We were quite strong at the start of Practice and I felt quite comfortable riding in the 1’51s. But, again, we missed a little bit in the time attack at the end of Practice. We have a few things to improve as I don’t feel very strong in Sectors 1 and 4. We’ll have a meeting with the team this evening to understand what we can improve to get a bit closer and qualify as close to the front as possible tomorrow.” 

Deniz Öncü, 16th – 1’50.453 

Around one of his favourite tracks, Deniz showed strong speed in the wet conditions at the start of FP1. Only at the end, did the Turkish rider slip down the order to 15th.

The 22-year old looked strong in the first half of Practice, when he sat comfortably inside the top ten. But the Turkish rider couldn’t maximise his speed in his final run as he missed a place in the top 14 by just 0.072s.

Deniz was among the ten fastest riders in the 1st and 4th Sectors of the fabulous Mugello Circuit. The Turkish rider will be keen to find some stability through Sectors 2 and 3 ahead of tomorrow.

“I was quite consistent over the day but just missed that little bit extra over a single flying lap”

Deniz’s comments:

“The first day of Practice is done here in Mugello. In the end, I’m a bit disappointed to be outside the top 14 and to not pass through directly to Q2 as I felt strong throughout the day. But tomorrow we’ll keep working and improving ourselves. I don’t feel we’re far away. I was quite consistent over the day but just missed that little bit extra over a single flying lap. Let’s keep pushing and see if we can qualify inside the top ten tomorrow. That’s the aim for Saturday.”