Collin Veijer on the hunt for points in Qatar

The setting sun heralded two exciting Moto3 qualifying sessions at the Losail International Circuit, in which Collin Veijer from the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto3 Team endeavoured to secure the best possible grid position for the season opener in Qatar. From grid row four a lot is possible for the Dutchman.

The legendary World Championship opener under floodlights is something special for every rider, but when the long and promising season begins in Qatar, the focus for the riders is solely on asserting themselves in the fiercely competitive 26-rider field.

Dutchman Collin Veijer emerged tenth from the two combined practice sessions on Friday and Saturday and ultimately confirmed this position in Qualifying 2, in which he was not only completely alone in the hunt for times and therefore did not benefit from slipstreaming like many others, but also did important work for the 16-lap race on Sunday thanks to a solid long run. The 19-year-old will lead the fourth row of the grid for the opening race, which starts at 15:00 (CET). Last year’s rookie will be hoping for a good start and a pace that will allow him to move up well into the top 10.

Collin Veijer P10 (Q2) – 2’03.249 (+0.973): “After talking to my team manager Peter and my crew chief Stefan, I’m happy with the qualifying result because in Q2 we’ve already shown a much better performance and I think we can be satisfied considering what happened today and especially yesterday. The crash on Friday didn’t help my confidence, but we picked it up quite quickly this afternoon. I’m also happy with the laps I did under my own steam and the pace we were able to set in qualifying wasn’t bad either. For these reasons, I think we are well prepared for tomorrow. Let’s see how the race goes, but my feeling is that we are ready to start the season with the first race.”