Deniz Öncü Aims for a Podium at the Australian GP

Turkish motorcycle racer Deniz Öncü is aiming for a podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix, to be held this weekend at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. The 23-year-old will race for the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team in the 18th round of the 2026 Moto2 World Championship. The information came from the Turkish Motorcycle Federation (TMF).

The weekend schedule will begin with free practice sessions on Friday. Saturday's qualifying sessions will set the starting grid for Sunday's 23-lap race. The race will start at 04:15 Turkish time. The 4.448-kilometre circuit will host the Australian Grand Prix for the last time before the event moves to a new street circuit in Adelaide in 2027.

Öncü left Phillip Island with good memories. He won at this track in Moto3 in 2023 and took three victories in total in that category. In 2025 in Moto2 he won two races, in Aragon and Germany, and finished the season 12th with 100 points. This season he is trying to adapt to a new team and motorcycle. After 17 races he is 15th with 47.5 points. In Indonesia he had started from 25th and finished the race in 22nd.

In the championship, Manuel González leads with 265.5 points. Izan Guevara follows with 260 points and Iván Ortolá with 191.5 points. Daniel Holgado, David Alonso and Australian Senna Agius complete the top six. Because of Toprak Razgatlıoğlu's injury that ended his season in Indonesia, Öncü will be the only representative of Türkiye in the MotoGP paddock this weekend.