Collin Veijer secures front row start in Portimão

Collin Veijer delivered one of his strongest performances of the season on Saturday at the Portuguese Grand Prix, securing a front row start for Sunday’s Moto2 race. The Dutch rider showed great speed and consistency throughout Qualifying and will line up third on the grid, matching his best Q2 result of the year.

The day began with wet conditions in Free Practice 2. With air temperatures at 17°C and humidity reaching 75%, the track offered little opportunity for improvement. Only ten riders went out to record a time, including Collin Veijer, who used the final minutes of the session to gain feedback from the conditions and complete a practice start. He completed two flying laps and finished tenth with a time of 2:11.391.

In the afternoon, conditions improved significantly as sunshine returned and the track dried out, creating perfect circumstances for Qualifying. With air temperatures rising to 29°C, Veijer immediately showed his pace, moving into the top ten on his first Q2 lap. A strong second lap placed him in third position before a quick tyre change allowed him to push once more. Although briefly dropping out of the top three, the Dutchman put in a strong final run to reclaim third in the closing moments.

With a best lap of 1:41.317, half a second faster than his Friday time and just one tenth off pole, Veijer secured his second front-row start of the 2025 season — repeating his performance from the Catalan Grand Prix.

Collin Veijer: “Q2 was good. I felt quite strong yesterday, so we were able to adjust a few things to be faster today. This morning we couldn’t do many laps and only went out to do the practice start. The first laps in qualifying were quite decent, and I managed to stay among the fastest riders. I knew we could do a bit better, so I pushed again. On the last lap I improved my first sector and we took this front row. I’m very happy with the result and looking forward to tomorrow. I think the tyre drop-off won’t be so severe, and we have a good pace — so we’ll go for a great result.”

The 21-lap Moto2 Portuguese Grand Prix will be the first race of the day on Sunday, starting at 11:15 a.m. local time.