Moto3 Portugal Warm Up: Deniz Öncü confirms despite a few drops of rain

Qualifying for the Moto3 class began with, you guessed it, another downpour, but this time the sun had come out by the time Q2 began and conditions improved throughout the session to take the battle for pole to the end. The provisional pole was mainly exchanged between Mario Aji (Honda, Honda Team Asia, #64) and Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20), but in this little game, Deniz Öncü (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) won with a lap of 2'03.955, established during his penultimate attempt. Going through the repechage will actually have allowed him to get used to the difficult conditions. Mario Aji (Honda, Honda Team Asia, #64) and Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) will join him on the front row of the grid for the first time, with very impressive performances from both drivers.

Carlos Tatay (CFMoto, CFMoto Racing PruestelGP, #99) opens the second row, half a second from pole, ahead Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, Leopard Racing, #24) and Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11), who still managed to maintain sixth place on the grid after falling three times in the 15-minute session. Riccardo rossi (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #54) in seventh place was more than a second slower than the pole sitter and ahead Scott Ogden (Honda, VisionTrack Racing Team, #19), who very briefly held pole until a yellow flag infraction saw him drop to a career-best eighth place. A Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) more anonymous closes the third row, Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #71) completing the top 10 in qualifying.

Who will be in the best shape this morning before the start of this Portuguese Grand Prix ? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

Moto3™ Portimão	2021	2022
FP1	1'48.296 Dennis Foggia	2'02.658 Daniel Holgado
FP2	1'48.026 Romano Fenati	2'02.491 Mario Suryo Aji
FP3	1'47.775 John McPhee	2'03.866 Sergio Garcia
Q1	1'48.127 Jeremy Alcoba	2'07.198 Deniz Öncü
Q2	1'47.274 Sergio Garcia	2'03.955 Deniz Öncü
Warm up	1'47.766 Pedro Acosta	1'50.089 Deniz Öncü
Course	Acosta, Migno, Antonelli
All time lap record	1'47.274 Sergio Garcia 2021

At the start of the morning, it was 15°C in the air and 14°C on the track. The clouds are still present but the sun is breaking through and the ground is almost dry.

The riders in the Moto3 category will benefit from 10 minutes of dry track on the weekend before the race which will take place this afternoon, also on a dry track, according to local weather forecasts. However, the last race in Portugal having taken place in November last year, on a dry track, as well as tests in February, the drivers kept their benchmarks and their settings.

The green flag has barely waved when the drivers join the 4.592 km of the Algarve route, in order to have a minimum of driving on an almost dry track: it starts to rain lightly on sector 1!

Diogo Moreira (KTM, MT Helmets – MSI, #10) is the first rider to fall, at turn 13.

At the end of the first timed lap, and when half of the session has already passed, Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11) is the fastest in 1'52.351, and ahead Ivan Ortola (KTM, Team MTA, #48) and  Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28). The poleman Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) is 4th, and Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) 15th, but all the drivers improve from the first sector of their second timed lap.

david savior (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #38) in turn fell at turn 13, then it was the turn of Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) to fall at the same corner.

2 minutes from the end of the session, Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) took back the lead in 1'50.588, ahead Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) and Carlos Tatay (CFMoto, CFMoto Racing PruestelGP, #99), but the times continue to evolve on this relatively dry track.

Xavier Artigas (CFMoto, CFMoto Racing PruestelGP, #43) fell at turn 5, an impressive highside from which he quickly recovered, even if he seemed a little stunned.

At the end of this Warm Up session, where the drivers will have driven between 5 and 6 laps, it is Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) the fastest, in 1'50.089, ahead Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) and Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11). Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20), very comfortable in difficult conditions, is 28th.

Warm Up ranking of the Moto3 Portuguese Grand Prix at the Algarve International Autodrome in Portimão:

Credit Ranking: MotoGP.com