Can anyone catch Öncü in qualifying?

It was a dominant Friday for Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley as a 1:56.485 in Practice 2 saw the #53 claim top spot by an impressive 0.489s, quite a margin for the rest to target.

Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) claimed second, with Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) occupying third heading into Saturday’s action and qualifying.

There weren’t many improvements in Practice 2 but while pushing for a personal best time in the final 10 minutes, World Championship leader Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) highsided at Turn 12. Rider ok, but looking for a place in Q2 once P3 gets underway on Saturday morning.

It was after that a flurry of quick times come in. Practice 1 pacesetter Öncü again was showing superior pace, his progress saw him sit 0.4s clear with five minutes to go – and that was the gap and the end of play on Friday. Sasaki was the only rider within half a second of Öncü on Day 1.

Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) jumped up to P4 from P24 in Practice 1 to end his opening day on a high, as Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team) completed the top five having ended P1 inside the top 10 too. Romano Fenati (Rivacold Snipers Team) was the final rider to finish within a second of Öncü, the Italian was P6.

Filippo Farioli (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Joel Kelso (CFMOTO Racing PrüstelGP), Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) and Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) were the riders to round out the combined top 10 on Friday at Mugello, as Holgado slipped to P15 and outside the provisional automatic Q2 places after his crash. Check out the full results below and tune in for more on Saturday!

Moto3 Top 4 – Combined Practice – Italian GP
1. Deniz ÖNCÜ – TUR – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 01’56.4850
2. Ayumu SASAKI – JPN – Liqui Moly Husqvarna… – +0.489
3. Jaume MASIA – SPA – Leopard Racing – +0.569
4. Ivan ORTOLÁ – SPA – Angeluss MTA Team – +0.653
5. Scott OGDEN – GBR – VisionTrack Racing Team – +0.736
24. Joshua WHATLEY – GBR – VisionTrack Racing Team – +2.157

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