Collin Veijer takes third row start at the Japanese Grand Prix

Qualifying at Mobility Resort Motegi on Saturday saw Collin Veijer secure a third-row start, taking ninth position on the grid for the third time this season.

After a Friday with ideal conditions, Saturday brought slightly lower temperatures for FP2 compared to FP1, with 35ºC recorded on track. It was a somewhat unusual session for Veijer, who concentrated on testing different race setups. The Dutchman completed just 12 laps and remained near the back after his initial run. Following adjustments made with his team, he returned to the track in the closing minutes for a short Time Attack consisting of only two laps. With it, he climbed to 18th with a best effort of 1:49.322 – one second off the leader and just three tenths slower than in Practice.

Track temperatures reached 45ºC for Moto2 Qualifying, the hottest of the weekend so far. Veijer had to bide his time until the final minutes of Q2 to set a competitive lap. His first two flying laps were cancelled, forcing him to pit without a valid time on the board. On his second run, he was sitting 15th until the very last lap, when he pushed through to ninth as the chequered flag fell. His 1:48.561 lap was half a second quicker than his previous best of the weekend, completed over eight laps.

Collin Veijer: “This morning was a bit difficult. We tried some things on the bike that didn’t work the way we wanted. Finally, our overall feeling was very good in qualifying. Two first laps were ruled out, but we finished with three decent laps that put us on the third row. I’m very happy with my performance, so we’ll try to continue with this hard work tomorrow. We want to get some valuable points here, so we will see what we are capable of in Sunday’s race.”

The 19-lap Moto2 Japanese Grand Prix is scheduled for Sunday at 12:15 p.m. local time.