Collin Veijer starts the Moto2 race at COTA from P25

It was not the best Saturday for Collin Veijer at the Grand Prix of the Americas. Although the Dutchman made good progress throughout the day and confirmed his improved performance in his final laps of Q1, despite this he had to settle for P25 on the grid.

The track finally dried out for FP2 in Austin, leaving practically perfect conditions.. Veijer, meanwhile, struggled a bit more than he had in the rain. With 14 laps completed, making him once again the rider with the most laps in Austin, the Dutchman finished 24th with a quickest time of 2:10.657.

Veijer had to save a crash in the second sector with skills, but also upped his pace after a trip to the pits. He completed seven laps -the same as his teammate-, rising up the order with a 2:09.254 that was his fastest time of the weekend. He had lowered his morning time by almost a second and a half, placing him 25th on the grid.

Collin Veijer: “Today wasn’t our best day. It was a productive one, but not all that we needed. The feeling was not so bad, but we encountered something in Qualifying, and it was a little bit late to recover. We suffered during the first laps of Q1, but the most important thing is that we found where we can be faster. Tomorrow is race day, so we’ll try to enjoy the race and to fight for our first points in Moto2. Austin is an amazing track and it’s always special to race there.”

The 16-lap Moto2 race will start at 12:15pm local time on Sunday.