The Dutchman achieves his best result in Q2 once again, while Muñoz will have to settle to start 20th after missing the Q1 cut by less than a tenth.

Collin Veijer enjoyed an excellent Saturday at Balaton Park, with a new best ever Q2 result in the Moto2 class. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider, who was only a tenth slower than the Polesitter, was fifth in both the morning and afternoon sessions of the second day at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and will therefore start from the second row. His teammate Daniel Muñoz was again just short of making it into Q2 and will start from 20th.

The track was slightly cooler for FP2 than in the Moto3 equivalent, at 29ºC. This was neither as cold as Friday morning, nor as hot as the afternoon’s Practice.

Muñoz had his best practice session as a Moto2 rider, finishing with a very fast and competitive run and completing a total of 15 laps. The Spanish rider focused on continuing work on his bike’s setup and his feeling for the race, and he was in the Top 20 positions -even reducing his best time from Friday by a tenth of a second. After a pit stop, he fitted fresh tyres to prepare for Q1. Moving from 22nd to 9th place on his first attempt, he ended up within just 2 tenths of the top time, which earned him fourth place. His 1:40.775 was more than a second faster than his best from Friday. Veijer remained a permanent fixture in the Top 10 from the start. The Dutchman split the session into two runs, improving his Friday time by more than 4 tenths of a second during his first stint. Seventh before changing tyres, on new rubber he had an imperious showing, racking up several consecutive fast laps that ultimately left him fifth, just 2 tenths off the pacesetter. With a best time of 1:40.782, 8 tenths faster than in Practice, he completed 16 laps of Balaton Park.

Track temperatures remained around 38°C, for Q1, which featured Muñoz after he narrowly missed out the cut on Friday.

After his first flying lap, which left him seventh, he managed to move into third place. When he came back out from the box, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider reduced his time again. Unfortunately, right at the death, several riders improved on their last two laps to leave Muñoz out of Q2 by just 0.056s. The Spaniard’s 1:41.230, -5 tenths slower than his morning time-, puts him 20th on the grid. It is the first time Muñoz has failed to make it into Q2 with the team, having done so at Aragon and Austria. In Q2, Veijer’s first outing placed him ninth, and it was when he put on fresh tyres that he upped his pace. Riding alone, he chained together two great laps to stay within thousandths of a second of the front row, and was set for Pole Position when the chequered flag fell, before losing the spot on the final sector. After eight laps, he took fifth with a best time of 1:40.517, his best Qualifying position as a Moto2 rider.

In conclusion, it was a good day for Red Bull KTM Ajo in Moto2, which achieved an excellent result with Veijer, despite once again fell short of Q2 with Muñoz, as happened yesterday at the end of the Practice. Both riders will be looking for strong results in the 22-lap Moto2 Hungarian Grand Prix, which takes place on Sunday at 12:15 (local time).

Qualifying Results
1. Diogo Moreira (Kalex) | 1:40.380
2. Zonta van den Goorbergh (Kalex) | 1:40.430 (+0.050)
3. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:40.462 (+0.082)
4. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) | 1:40.463 (+0.083)
5. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:40.517 (+0.137)
20. Daniel Muñoz (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:41.230 (+0.850)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I’m very happy with all we did today. This morning we worked quite well and also our race pace was strong. I think it’s very similar to that of the top riders, so maybe we can enjoy ourselves at the front tomorrow. In the afternoon, I gave it my all, but it was not enough to get onto the front row. Let’s see what we can do on Sunday because the race is always a different matter. We just need to get through the opening laps without problems, and then try to see if it could be a nice ending to this Hungarian Grand Prix.”

#17 DANIEL MUÑOZ

“I’m happy with today. We’ve taken another step forward in terms of my riding, but we still needed to make it through to Q2, which eluded us again by just a few thousandths of a second, like yesterday. In any case, the work by the team has been excellent once again, and I think we’re on the right track to continue developing together. We’ll start from a very far back on the grid tomorrow, but we know our potential, so we’ll try to make up ground as much as possible on this track -although it won’t be easy given its characteristics.”