Collin Veijer takes fifteenth on the grid at Silverstone despite physical setback

Collin Veijer will start Sunday’s Moto2 Grand Prix of Great Britain from fifteenth position. The Dutchman endured a physically demanding Saturday at the Silverstone Circuit after falling ill during the night from Friday to Saturday. Despite his physical condition, Veijer showed good pace throughout the day and qualified fifteenth with a 2’02.527.

Having secured direct qualification for Q2 on Friday, Veijer started Saturday with the second Free Practice session. However, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider had endured a difficult night, during which he had vomited several times and had barely been able to sleep. Despite this, Veijer got back on the bike on Saturday morning. Throughout the session, he was able to gradually improve his pace. With a fastest lap of 2’02.827, he finished twelfth and improved on his best time from Friday.

Qualifying took place in the afternoon. In considerably warmer conditions, with the track temperature reaching 42 degrees Celsius, Veijer made a good start to Q2. During his first run, he was only able to complete one flying lap before the session was stopped with a red flag following an incident. With a 2’02.762, he was provisionally twelfth at that point.

After the restart, Veijer managed to further improve his lap time. The Dutchman eventually decided to complete his fast lap on his own after several battles for track position developed within the group he was riding in. With a 2’02.527, he improved once again and secured fifteenth position on the grid.

The margins in Q2 were extremely small. Veijer’s fastest lap was just over three tenths of a second slower than the time that secured fifth position on the grid.

Collin Veijer: “Physically, I’m definitely not feeling great. I don’t want to say too much about it, but I had a very difficult night, had to vomit several times and eventually only managed to get about three hours of sleep. It’s not easy to get on the bike in those circumstances, but I tried to make the best of it. This morning actually went reasonably well. In qualifying there was a lot going on around me, so at one point I decided to ride my own lap. We are still losing just a little too much on the straights and there are a few areas where we need to improve. Considering the circumstances, I’m happy with what we were able to do today. Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow and we can have a good race.”

The Moto2 Grand Prix of Great Britain will take place on Sunday at 11:15 a.m. local time (12:15 p.m. Dutch time). The race at the 5.9-kilometre Silverstone Circuit will be contested over seventeen laps.