On a tricky day at the Mugello Circuit Deniz Öncü qualified 17th while Aron Canet was 23rd. 

After rain affected Friday at the fabulous Mugello circuit, conditions on Saturday were close to perfect. Qualifying took place under sunny skies and in ambient temperatures of 30 degrees.

The pace was red hot throughout Saturday, with qualifying witnessing a new outright lap record for the Moto2 class, which was over 1.2s faster than last year’s best.

Both Aron and Deniz will be keen to make up ground in tomorrow’s 19-lap Moto2 race, which gets underway at 12:15 local time.

Aron Canet, 23rd – 1’50.013 

After making some tweaks to his set-up on Friday evening, Aron put the changes through their paces over two runs in FP2 when he set the 15th fastest time.

The 26-year old was fully fired up for qualifying and set his fastest time of Q1 on his first flying lap.

Yet the Spaniard was unable to make further improvements on his second run. Despite making improvements in Mugello’s first sector, he still lacks feel in Sectors 3 and 4.

“I was expecting to be closer today even if it was hotter” 

Aron’s comments:

“A difficult day! We have been on the back foot a bit this weekend because FP1 was wet. We missed that session to work on the bike. But to be honest, I was expecting to be closer today even if it was hotter. I’m just lacking confidence. At a fast track like Mugello that makes a big difference. It’s a tough moment, but we’ll keep working. The team has a few ideas on set-up changes to make. We’ll come back tomorrow and give it everything. I’m still confident of making up places and scoring some points.” 

Deniz Öncü, 17th – 1’50.572  

Like his team-mate, Deniz used the morning FP2 session to post two runs with some set-up changes. He was also able to assess his potential over longer distances as he ended up 18th.

The 22-year old showed good speed in Q1 to place 2nd, just 0.08s back of pace setter Dani Holgado.

But the Turkish rider struggled through Mugello’s high-speed final sector in Q2. Despite his best efforts, he set the 17th fastest time.

“There were a few laps today when I could feel like we’re going in the right direction” 

Deniz’s comments:

“So qualifying day has finished here in Mugello. Even if the results today didn’t go as we wanted, we are keeping our spirits up by continuing to work hard. OK, maybe we didn’t put together one fast lap that showed our full potential. But there were a few laps today when I could feel like we’re going in the right direction with the set-up. We’ll keep the same approach and try to maximise our potential. Tomorrow will be a long race and we’ll give our maximum like always!”