A determined Deniz Öncü rose up the order with a late lap to qualify in eleventh place for the Japanese Grand Prix, while Aron Canet failed to get out of Q1 and was 22nd. 

After a damp start to Friday, the Mobility Resort Motegi enjoyed perfect conditions throughout Saturday, with qualifying taking place in mild ambient temperatures of 22 degrees.

The circuit’s new track surface, which was put down recently, produced some impressive times through Saturday. Last year’s previous lap record has been obliterated by over one second.

Elf Marc VDS Racing Team duo Aron Canet and Deniz Öncü are eager to face Sunday’s 19-lap race, which kicks off at 12:15 local time.

Aron Canet, 22nd – 1’47.824 

After struggling over a flying lap on Friday, Aron tried a variety of set-up changes ahead of FP2, when he set the 19th fastest time.

The Spaniard posted two runs in the session, which demonstrated strong rhythm. Aron was able to lap consistently in the mid 1’48s in FP2.

Despite finishing Q1 in eighth – and 22nd overall – the Valencian remains confident he can register his third successive point-scoring finish on a Sunday if he can start well.

“I’m confident of recovering a lot of places” 

Aron’s comments:

“Frustrating. That’s how I’d describe today. We’ve not been able to finish ahead in any of the sessions, which is strange because the feeling on the bike isn’t bad. We made some changes ahead of this morning to allow me to push harder with the front on corner entry. I was quite happy with my consistency. But once again we couldn’t maximise our potential on a flying lap. It’s cost us because we’re starting far back. But let’s try to get through the first four turns. If we manage to gain some places in that time, I’m confident of recovering a lot of places.” 

Deniz Öncü, 11th – 1’47.461 

After enjoying a positive day on Friday, Deniz was once again among the front runners in FP2, when he set the seventh fastest time.

The 23-year old showed strong rhythm throughout the morning session, when he posted six 1’47s lap times.

Deniz’s ideal time in Q2 would have put him seventh once again, but the Turkish rider didn’t post the cleanest flying lap. Still, eleventh is his best qualifying performance of the year so far.

“Honestly, I had some extra time in my pocket”

Deniz’s comments:

“We finished the qualifying here in Japan. I would say we are making good steps and doing a good job. I’m happy with the job we are doing. Tomorrow will be a long race and we need to do a deep analysis tonight to see what strategy we’ll need to do. In qualifying it wasn’t so bad. But honestly, I had some extra time in my pocket. If I rode just a little cleaner, we could have been higher up for sure. Anyway, that doesn’t matter now. We’re starting from P11 and I’ll try my best tomorrow to score the maximum points by the end of the race.”