Aron Canet was 11th and Deniz Öncü 12th at the close of a competitive Practice session on day one of the Catalan GP. 

The idyllic Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya, situated half an hour north of Barcelona, hosts this year’s Catalan Grand Prix and Round 6 of the 2026 Moto2 World Championship.

Despite a dodgy weather forecast for Friday afternoon, FP1 and Practice were dry throughout. Conditions were cool and overcast throughout the day, however, with ambient temperatures a mild 16 degrees.

Tomorrow’s action starts early. Moto2 FP2 kicks off at 9:25 local time before qualifying gets underway at 13:40.

Aron Canet, 11th – 1’42.151 

Having scored his first top ten finish of the season last time out, Aron immediately looked competitive around the Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya by finishing FP1 in 9th place.

The 26-year old was lapping comfortably in the 1’42s from the start of Practice. Strong in Sectors 1 and 4, the Spaniard will be seeking some gains in the middle of the track for tomorrow.

After two stops in the box during Practice, Aron set his fastest time of the day on his final run to place 11th, just over half a second off pace setter Celestino Vietti.

“We were strong in the morning, and, honestly, I felt good in Practice”

Aron’s comments:

“I’m happy with how today went. We were strong in the morning, and, honestly, I felt good in Practice, too. We’re going straight into Q2 so let’s see tomorrow. This is the second weekend in a row that we’ve managed this. There are a few areas on track where we feel we can improve. Thankfully, we have FP2 in the morning to work on our rhythm and pace. Let’s keep going and a good place in qualifying is the aim.” 

Deniz Öncü, 12th – 1’42.198 

Fresh from scoring points last weekend in France, Deniz started the weekend well by setting the 13th fastest time in FP1.

The 22-year old had a strong, consistent start to Practice as he set nine straight laps, with five of those in the 1’42s.

It’s clear Deniz needs to work on his bike performance in Sector 3, where he is losing 0.2s to his fastest rivals.

“Every GP we’re making small steps forward” ”

Deniz’s comments:

“We’ve finished the first day here in Barcelona. It’s been a positive start and a positive day! This is good to see because every GP we’re making small steps forward. This is important to see that we’re going in the right direction. We’ll just keep working to see what’s happening. Tomorrow is qualifying day and we’ll try to get a good place on the grid. That will be important for the start of Sunday’s race. Let’s keep going like this and we’ll see where we end up.”