Öncü dominates Friday as Holgado sits P15

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 0.489s. Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) claimed second with Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) occupying third heading into Saturday's action.

There wasn’t a lot of time 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 Tech3) highsided at Turn 12. Thankfully the Spaniard was able to walk away unharmed, but that was his session done.

It was after this we saw 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, a great performance from the Turk.

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.

The always crucial Moto3™ Practice 3 comes your way at 08:40 local time (GMT+2) on Saturday morning. Can Holgado climb into the top 14? Find out then.