Deniz Öncü shrugged off an early crash in Practice at the Mobility Resort Motegi to post the twelfth fastest time of the day while Aron Canet was 24th. 

The Elf Marc VDS Racing Team was relieved to have good conditions throughout Friday to try out the new track surface around the 4.8km Mobility Resort Motegi circuit.

With the new tarmac offering up serious levels of grip, the lap record was smashed, with David Alonso’s fastest lap of the day four tenths of a second faster than last year’s pole time.

The Moto2 action continues on Saturday. Aron and Deniz will have a chance to refine their set-ups in FP2 at 09:25 local time before qualifying at 13:40.

Aron Canet, 24th – 1’48.586 

Aron didn’t have an ideal start to the Japanese Grand Prix as he crashed out at Turn 10 midway through FP1.

Thankfully the Spaniard was unharmed as he finished the morning session in 17th.

The 26-year old started Practice well, setting his personal best time on his first flying lap. But Aron was unable to improve on that as the session progressed, meaning he finished the day in 24th.

“I feel we’re not so far away” 

Aron’s comments:

“The result doesn’t look the best and it wasn’t the easiest day. We had a crash in FP1 when I wasn’t really expecting it. But I feel we’re not so far away. My speed at the start of the afternoon was quite strong and I was happy with my pace. We just lacked something in the time attack at the end of the day. The new surface here is interesting. There are no bumps and you can really attack it. We are still exploring its limits. Let’s see what tomorrow brings but I’m confident we can get in to Q2.” 

Deniz Öncü, 12th – 1’48.064 

After another solid weekend in Austria, Deniz started well in FP1 as he set the seventh fastest time, just 0.4s back of early pace setter Manuel Gonzalez.

The Turkish rider had a tricky start to the afternoon, when he crashed at Turn 1. But thankfully Deniz was unharmed in the fall.

The 23-year old came roaring back in the second part of the session, with a four-lap run at the end of the session cementing a place inside the top 14 and showing strong consistency.

“It’s a good start in Japan” 

Deniz’s comments:

“We’ve finished the first day here in Japan. It’s a good start because I can say that we’ve arrived in Q2 thanks to our performance on day one. This is great for us. There are a few areas we need to understand and I need to work on with my own riding. We’ll continue working like this and keep on the gas when tomorrow comes around. I’ll be aiming for a decent qualifying position on Saturday.”