Strong race for Collin Veijer ends prematurely in Aragón

Collin Veijer was unable to cap off his strong performance at the Michelin Grand Prix of Aragón with a result on Sunday. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider battled for a podium position for a long time at MotorLand Aragón, but crashed on lap fifteen. Despite the disappointment, the 21-year-old Dutchman looks back on a weekend in which a lot of progress was made.

Under warm conditions, with a track temperature of around 45 degrees Celsius, Collin Veijer started Sunday afternoon’s nineteen-lap Moto2 race from sixth place on the grid. The Dutchman made an excellent start and immediately gained one position on the opening lap.

Veijer had good pace from the beginning and managed to work his way further up the order. After first taking over fourth place, he moved into third position before the halfway point of the race. This put the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider firmly in contention for a podium finish.

Veijer managed to maintain his position inside the top three for a long time. However, on lap fifteen he had to give up one position, before things went wrong shortly afterwards at Turn 4. A small mistake resulted in a crash and brought his strong race to a premature end. Veijer escaped the crash unhurt.

Although a second consecutive retirement following the British Grand Prix is naturally a disappointment, there were also plenty of positives to take away afterwards. At MotorLand Aragón, Veijer showed that he has the speed to fight at the front and made significant steps throughout the weekend at a circuit where he was riding a Moto2 machine for the first time.

Collin Veijer: “There are a lot of positive things we can take away from today. Of course, a crash is not the best way to end a race, but we were fighting for the podium and that is what really counts. We had a good start, made some nice overtakes and it was great to be riding inside the top three. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake and crashed. We will learn from this, but the most important thing is that we were once again able to show what our potential is. It was my first time here at MotorLand with the Moto2 machine and the progress we made throughout the weekend was huge. We will take that with us as a starting point for the next race. We are going to train even harder now and fully focus on Misano.”

Following his retirement, Veijer is twelfth in the Moto2 World Championship standings after the Grand Prix of Aragón with 55.5 points.

The next race will take place in two weeks’ time. From September 11th to 13th, Veijer and Red Bull KTM Ajo will be in action at the San Marino Grand Prix at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.