Deniz Öncü equalled his best result of the year by scoring a brilliant eighth place from 18th on the grid, while Aron Canet had a tough afternoon, finishing in 25th. 

Blue skies and blazing sunshine greeted the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders in the Teruel region of Spain on Sunday with ambient temperatures hitting 28 degrees.

The 13th round of the season got underway at 12:15 local time with the spectacular Motorland Aragon the scene of the 19-lap encounter.

A decent crowd came through the gates on Sunday, with the race day attendance standing at 51,181.

Aron Canet, 25th

Starting from 23rd, Aron had a tricky first lap when he had a moment with another rider and crossed the line in 29th.

The Spaniard didn’t feel comfortable throughout the contest and struggled with tyre wear in the closing laps as he came home 25th.

Aron now sits 23rd in the championship standings with 13.5 points.

“I didn’t have much feeling with the front” 

Aron’s comments:

“A difficult end to a really tough weekend. I didn’t have a great feeling from the first lap until the last. It wasn’t easy, the first lap was crazy and I had a few close moments with other riders. After that I decided to relax and just do my own race. I thought I could make up some positions. But honestly, I really struggled. I didn’t have much feeling with the front end and the front tyre started wearing a lot. I’m really not happy to be finishing where I did. We need to reset after this and try and come back refreshed for Misano as we must improve.” 

Deniz Öncü, 8th 

Deniz started one place higher (18th) than he qualified due to a penalty for another rider. He enjoyed a stunning start to sit twelfth at the end of lap one.

The Turkish rider continued his sensational progress. He was inside the top ten by lap ten and passed Dani Muñoz for eighth with three laps to go. Along with Silverstone last time out, this equals his best result of the year.

This result sees Deniz remain 17th in the championship with 31.5 points.

“The team is pushing, I am pushing and I believe we can do this last step together” 

Deniz’s comments:

“We’ve finished the Aragon GP. Looking at the weekend as a whole, I’d say we did a good progression. The feeling today compared to Friday was much-improved. We have to work a lot on our weak area, which is qualifying. Once we understand how to get better there, that will be the final step for us before we start fighting closer to the front. I’m absolutely sure of that. The team is pushing, I am pushing and I believe we can do this last step together. We’ll keep going like this going into the final part of the season.”