The Turkish rider secures seventh place on the grid, while Veijer finish close to Q2 and will start from 20th in Qatar.

Deniz Öncü and Collin Veijer took their best qualifying results of the season at the Qatar Grand Prix on Saturday. The two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders carried over their positive feelings from Friday and Öncü, who had earned a direct spot in Q2, will start seventh, on the third row. Veijer meanwhile, will start in the Top 20 for the first time in 2025.

With both sun and heat in Lusail, Moto2 FP2 failed to match the times set on Friday afternoon in Practice, although it was quicker than FP1.

Öncü focused on preparing for Sunday’s race, and in the final stretch tried a Time Attack, which allowed him to place ninth with the checkered flag already showing. After 12 laps, the Turkish rider was 5 tenths off the best time, with a 1:58.126. Veijer once again demonstrated that he has taken a step forward since Austin. The Dutchman was even momentarily ahead of his teammate at one point, and completed 11 laps in Lusail. However, the rookie closed the second free practice session in 15th place with a best time of 1:58.393.

In Q1, Veijer reduced his best time from Friday by 3 tenths. His 1:57.540, however, was only enough for sixth place -2 tenths shy of making the cut for Q2. After riding seven laps, he closed out the Top 20 on the grid for the first time as a Moto2 rider. Öncü spent the entire Q2 session among the front three rows, and put in a total of seven laps, with his best time achieved on his final attempt. The Turkish rider, with a best time of 1:56.778 -4 tenths better than his top Friday lap- secured seventh place on the grid, his best of the season.

The best Grand Prix of the season so far for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team should come to a good end tomorrow. Deniz Öncü and Collin Veijer will fight for points in Lusail, in an 18-lap race that starts at 6:15 PM (local time) on Sunday.

Qualifying Results
1. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:56.301
2. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) | 1:56.469 +0.168
3. Aron Canet (Kalex) | 1:56.593 +0.292
4. Albert Arenas (Kalex) | 1:56.624 +0.323
5. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 1:56.756 +0.455
7. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:56.778 +0.477
20. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:57.540 +1.239

#53 DENIZ ONCÜ

“The second day here in Qatar has finished with a quite acceptable result in Qualifying. For the moment, this is the place where we have to be, so it’s very important to maintain this tomorrow. We are going step by step, recovering our speed and being consistent, so it’s a very positive day. Tomorrow, I need to be cleaner in my riding, to try not to make any mistakes. We will try to stay focused during all the race to finish it in the best possible position. I will try to get as many points as possible, so we’ll see where we finish.”

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“Today we made a big step in the morning, where I felt really good on track. We made good progress with our riding style and this helped us a lot during the first session. Overall, we’re getting more and more feeling. We had a little bit of bad luck, missing out on Q2 on the last lap, but we still have a lot of opportunities to get there, so it’s not a problem right now. Tomorrow we’ll try to be in the points and to enjoy the race to the fullest.”