Collin Veijer to start fourteenth in home race at the TT Circuit Assen

Collin Veijer qualified in fourteenth place on Saturday for the Moto2 race at the Tissot Grand Prix of the Netherlands. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider secured a direct place in Q2 on Friday, but was unable to put together a perfect lap during Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session. As a result, the Dutchman will start his home race from the fifth row of the grid on Sunday.

Saturday began under warm conditions at the TT Circuit Assen. During the second Free Practice session, Collin Veijer’s main focus was on race preparation. Riding on used tyres, the 20-year-old from Staphorst completed a consistent run of laps and improved his fastest time of the weekend early in the session. On his final run, he set a lap of 1:35.793, good enough for sixth place in the session and almost seven tenths of a second faster than his best lap on Friday.

Conditions remained hot during qualifying, with an ambient temperature of 33°C and a track temperature of 46°C. In Q2, Veijer completed eight laps and made several attempts to secure a place on the front two rows of the grid. His fastest lap of 1:35.831 ultimately earned him fourteenth place, meaning he will start Sunday’s Dutch TT from the fifth row.

Despite not achieving the result he had hoped for, Veijer remains confident ahead of Sunday’s race. His pace was competitive throughout the day, and the Dutch rider believes he has every opportunity to fight his way forward in front of his home crowd.

Collin Veijer: “I’m not really happy with today. The morning session wasn’t bad at all, but I think we didn’t manage Qualifying in the best possible way. The plan was good, but the first laps didn’t go as we expected. During the second run it was very difficult to improve my lap time any further. It is what it is. Tomorrow we’ll give everything for the home crowd. I know we have the pace here, and I’ll do everything I can to put together a strong race. Racing in front of your home fans always gives you extra motivation, so we need to make the most of that.”

The 22-lap Moto2 race at the TT Circuit Assen will get underway on Sunday at 12:15 PM local time.