Collin Veijer to start fourth on the grid in Qatar

Collin Veijer delivered a strong qualifying performance on Saturday at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar. The 21-year-old Dutch rider set the fifth-fastest lap at the Lusail International Circuit but will move up to fourth on the grid following a penalty for another rider. As a result, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider will start Sunday’s 18-lap Moto2 race from the second row.

Saturday in Qatar began with a challenging second free practice session for Collin Veijer. In hot conditions, with track temperatures reaching 45°C, the Dutchman focused on his race pace and experimented with different settings on his KTM. However, not all the changes produced the desired results. With a fastest lap of 1’57.043, he finished the session in 15th position. The field was extremely competitive, with no fewer than 23 riders separated by less than one second.

Conditions were considerably more favourable during qualifying. With the track temperature dropping to 33°C and humidity levels rising, Veijer made a strong start to Q2. On his very first flying lap, he positioned himself among the riders fighting for a place on the front two rows. During his second run, the Dutchman once again demonstrated his strong pace. A lap time of 1’55.579 secured him fifth position, almost a full second faster than his best lap on Friday. Following a grid penalty for another rider, Veijer moves up to fourth on the starting grid, putting him in an excellent position for Sunday’s race.

Collin Veijer: “It wasn’t a bad Saturday. This morning didn’t go entirely as we had hoped. We tried a few different things with the setup, but they didn’t really work and made very little difference to how I felt on the bike. Fortunately, things went well on used tyres, and our race pace looks promising for tomorrow. Qualifying then went quite well. We managed to put together two good runs, especially the second one, which was particularly strong. With the fifth-fastest time, and ultimately fourth place on the grid, we can be satisfied. It’s a great starting position for the race. Now we’ll analyse everything together with the team and work out the best strategy for Sunday.”

Starting from fourth on the grid, Veijer is looking ahead to the Qatar Grand Prix with confidence. His pace over longer runs is encouraging, although choosing the right tyre strategy and staying with the leading group from the start will be crucial.

The Moto2 race at the Lusail International Circuit will get underway on Sunday, 8 November, at 17:15 local time (15:15 Dutch time) and will be contested over 18 laps.