Collin Veijer to start 13th on the grid in Malaysia

Collin Veijer will line up 13th for Sunday’s Moto2 race at the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia, as he continues adapting to the Sepang International Circuit aboard his Moto2 machine.

As on Friday, the intermediate class escaped the unstable weather that has affected much of the weekend. For FP2, riders were greeted with track temperatures of 29°C and a sweltering humidity level of 81%.

Collin Veijer completed twelve laps in the session, beginning on used tyres and using the time to fine-tune his race setup. After a cautious start that left him well adrift of the frontrunners, the Dutchman switched to fresh rubber and immediately improved by 1.1 seconds on his first flying lap, finding a further two tenths on his next attempt. A yellow flag following a crash cost him his final lap time, which would likely have moved him higher, leaving his best effort of 2:04.916 good for 22nd position.

Qualifying offered far better conditions, with track temperatures climbing to 48°C and humidity dropping to 58% — the most favourable numbers of the weekend so far.

In Q2, Veijer continued to make progress, improving his best lap in both of his stints. Initially sitting 15th with a time already much quicker than on Friday, he smartly placed himself within a group to pick up valuable references. On his final two flying laps, he broke into the low 2:04s before setting his best time of 2:03.980 — almost nine-tenths faster than his previous benchmark — to secure 13th on the grid.

Collin Veijer: “I wasn’t very confident today. I think we could have done better. The feeling isn’t amazing and the change from Moto3 to Moto2 is bigger than I expected. I really enjoy the track — it’s a great one — but we still need to find the key points to be faster. For tomorrow, we just need to focus on scoring points and maintaining our pace, which isn’t too bad. This afternoon we’ll keep working to understand where we can improve.”

The 17-lap Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday at 1:15 pm local time.