Deniz Öncü Achieved His Best Career Result at Motegi

Deniz Öncü finished the Japanese Grand Prix, the 16th round of the Moto2 World Championship, in 7th place, and this result was recorded as his best finish of the 2026 season. The ELF Marc VDS team's Turkish rider started the race from 11th place; crossing the finish line having gained 4 positions was the biggest news of the Motegi weekend. The race was won by Spaniard Izan Guevara from pole position. With this result, Öncü collected 9 points and sits 15th in the championship standings with 47.5 points.

How Did the Race Unfold at Motegi?

The Japanese Grand Prix was held at the 4.8-kilometer Motegi circuit in Tochigi Prefecture. With its technical character, this circuit requires Moto2 riders to maintain a balanced pace; braking points and fast direction changes are exactly the kind of thing that instantly punishes taking the wrong risk. Öncü had advanced directly to Q2 in qualifying and taken 11th place; pole went to Izan Guevara, who won the race.

The real story of the race was the Turkish rider reclaiming, one by one, the positions he had lost from the very first corner. A four-place climb from 11th to 7th may look small on paper; but with this season's balance in Moto2, with dozens of riders running side by side in the mid-pack, every position is its own battle. When Öncü saw the checkered flag, he hadn't merely finished 7th; he had also pocketed his best result of the season.

The top three took shape as follows: Guevara started from pole and won the race, also strengthening his championship bid. Italian Tony Arbolino (REDS Fantic) finished second, and Czech rider Filip Salac (OnlyFans American) came home third.

What Does the Best Result of the Season Mean?

A rider's best result of the season is not merely a number; it shows that rider's developmental trajectory. For Öncü, 2026 has not been an easy season. Entering the season with a new chassis - those in the know, know - turns race weekends into a series of adaptation tests. The switch to the Boscoscuro chassis meant the Turkish rider reportedly went through a difficult adaptation process early in the season, and he had finished the season opener, the Thailand GP, in 9th place.

But the curve is pointing upward. At the British GP, Öncü started 21st and finished 8th; that 13-place climb at Silverstone was also warmly acknowledged by his team. At the French GP, he saw the checkered flag in 14th place. The 7th-place result at Motegi is a logical continuation of that line: the rider is now comfortable with the chassis, comfortable enough to start climbing up the order in qualifying too.

How Do the Points and Championship Standings Look?

The 9 points from the Japanese GP carried Öncü to 15th place in the overall standings with 47.5 points. And the picture at the top is not simply frozen; on the contrary, the Motegi weekend turned the championship battle on its head. Guevara, who won from pole, closed the gap to leader Manuel Gonzalez to 10.5 points and reignited the fight for the title.

Looking at the table, the 15th place may seem humble; but for Öncü, who signed with Marc VDS for 2026 and is described as the only athlete representing our country in the MotoGP paddock, the real measure is not the standings position but the trend across the season. Motegi showed that the trend is turning in his favor.

Deniz Öncü's Moto2 Development Curve

Born in Alanya on July 26, 2003, Öncü owes his introduction to motorcycles to the years he spent alongside his twin brother Can Öncü; the pair raced in the Asia Talent Cup in 2016-2017. The point reached since then is remarkable for Turkish motorsport: in 2025 at the Aragon GP, he beat Diogo Moreira by 0.003 seconds to become the first Turkish rider to win a Moto2 race, and he also claimed the first podium of his career at Aragon. In an interview he gave back then, he had set his goal clearly: first the Moto2 championship, then MotoGP.

So his 7th-place result at Motegi should be read through the lens of that goal. Moto2 is the name of the road to MotoGP, and the file of a rider who consistently collects points and finishes races moving forward in this category opens the doors to the top class. Öncü's first half of 2026 was not the kind to be excused on adaptation grounds, but his recovery in the second half is clearly visible: 9th in Thailand, from 21st to 8th in Great Britain, and a season-best 7th at Motegi.

Toprak Was at Motegi Too, But With a Different Story

There was another Turkish name on track at Motegi that same weekend: Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, who finished the race in 17th place. Since Toprak's name appears in the headlines almost every week in the Turkish sports agenda, Deniz Öncü's progress in Moto2 can sometimes be overshadowed. Yet the fact that Öncü, the only athlete around MotoGP representing our country in the paddock, achieved his best result of the season with a pace that improved steadily carries news value in its own right.

Next Stop: Indonesia

The 17th race of the season will be run in Indonesia on October 9-11. The answer to whether the momentum captured at Motegi is sustainable will be given there. The Far East and Southeast Asian leg of the MotoGP calendar usually tests the riders' physical endurance with its hot and humid conditions; for a diligent rider with a new chassis, however, back-to-back race weekends are each an opportunity that accelerates the learning process.

There are also rumors circulating about Öncü's future: news that he will return to a Kalex chassis under the RW Racing GP banner for 2027 appears in only a single source, and there is no official statement. Similarly, talk that Marc VDS will leave Moto2 to focus on WorldSBK has remained at the social media level; no official confirmation has come. As someone with over forty years in this business, let me note: anything before the pen touches the contract table is mid-season gossip. What the reader should take away from these lines is that the next race is in Indonesia and that Öncü now reads the standings forward, not backward.

Closing: Small Numbers, the Right Direction

7th place is not a heroic epic in Motorsport's grand narratives; but in career graphs it is a line bending in the right direction. Starting from 11th and finishing 7th at Motegi, Deniz Öncü took his best result of the season while also showing, for the first time in concrete form, the fruit of his adaptation to the new chassis. While even the mere presence of Turkish riders in world championships used to be newsworthy, we are now writing commentary in these pages on a Turkish name collecting 9 points in Moto2 - in my view, this difference best captures the measure of the change. Next up is Indonesia.

Sources

• Deniz Öncü finishes the Moto2 Japanese GP in 7th
• Deniz Öncü Takes the Season's Best Result in Japan
• Moto2 Japanese GP qualifying: Izan Guevara takes pole at Motegi
• Official: Deniz Öncü's new Moto2 destination revealed
• Deniz Öncü to race for Marc VDS in the 2026 season
• Deniz Öncü takes the first victory of his Moto2 career
• Who Is Deniz Öncü and What Are His Achievements?
• Deniz Öncü finishes the Moto2 British Grand Prix in 8th place
• Deniz Öncü ends the Moto2 French race in 14th place
• Deniz Öncü finishes 9th in the season's first race
• My goal is the Moto2 title in 2025, MotoGP in 2026
• Deniz Öncü
• Deniz Öncü stays in Moto2, returning to a Kalex chassis