The Spanish rider finishes 17th in Practice, with the Dutchman playing catch-up after an FP1 crash.

Friday action at Misano for Daniel Muñoz and Collin Veijer saw them get the San Marino GP underway. The two Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders worked well during the afternoon Practice session, but missed out on a direct spot in Q2. Muñoz was 17th and Veijer 26th.

Track conditions improved significantly for Moto2 FP1, with track temperatures rising to 25°C and no threat of rain.

Muñoz got off to a strong start and was less than a second off the top spot in the early going. Inside the Top 15, he managed to take another step forward before adjusting several settings in the pits, moving up to seventh place and just half a second off the pacesetter. After adjusting several settings, the Spanish rider went back out with fresh tyres, improving his previous time on his 16th lap of a total of 18. His 1:35.890 kept him less than a second off the top position, in 15th. Veijer’s day began with a crash at high speed at Turn 12, one of the fastest corners of the circuit, on his first flying lap. Fortunately, the Dutchman was unharmed in the incident, but despite the hard work of the entire Red Bull KTM Ajo team, his bike would not be fixed before the end of the session. Veijer finished 30th, failing to complete any hot lap.

Track temperatures soared to 36°C in the afternoon Practice session, with the dry conditions in stark contrast to Wednesday’s rain.

Muñoz quickly climbed into the Top 15 again, and took little time in matching his pace from the morning. He came in to change tires while in 11th place, less than 7 tenths off the top spot. When the stand-in rider reemerged, he lowered his time twice, but neither was enough to make the cut for Q2. His 1:35.408 was 4 tenths faster than his morning marker, and more than one second quicker than his previous best time at the track as a JuniorGP rider. The Spaniard completed a total of 17 laps and only missed out on the Top 14 by 2 tenths, placing 17th. Veijer started with the disadvantage of not having completed a single lap in the morning. However, he improved his time lap after lap, reducing the gap to the pacesetter from over 4 seconds to just 1.7 seconds. After changing to new soft tyres, he improved his time twice more, to 1:36.021. He was 1.3 seconds from first place, for 26th place after 19 laps.

In conclusion, it was an intense Friday for Daniel Muñoz and Collin Veijer, who will have to step up tomorrow to try to make it into Q2. Both will take part in FP2 on Saturday, starting at 9:25 a.m. (local time). Q1 for the intermediate class will take place at 2:05 p.m., as they aim to finish in the Top 4 and then fight for the top six rows.

Practice Results
1. Celestino Vietti (Boscoscuro) | 1:34.650
2. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 1:34.747 (+0.097)
3. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 1:34.855 (+0.205)
4. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) | 1:34.926 (+0.276)
5. Diogo Moreira (Kalex) | 1:34.969 (+0.319)
17. Daniel Muñoz (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:35.408 (+0.758)
26. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:36.021 (+1.371)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“The first day it wasn’t easy here in Misano. I had a big crash in the morning when we were doing our first flying lap, that wasn’t the ideal. It wasn’t a very smart move because we had to miss all session for that. I have a little of pain in my eye and in my arm, but I’m quite fine and without big problems. Overall, the feeling in the Practice wasn’t too bad. It was difficult to get the feeling back after such a big crash, but we did it, so quite well on the afternoon. It wasn’t possible to get into Q2, but the best part is we have more riding time with Q1, so let’s try to take profit from that. We will look at the data to make another step tomorrow and let’s see how far we go.”

#17 DANIEL MUÑOZ

“It was a positive day for me and the team. Last year we couldn’t quite find the right feeling or setup here, and this time we felt much better, so I’m very happy about that. We have the speed and the feeling right, so we just need to find those tenths of a second to get into Q2 tomorrow. If we can fine-tune things for the Time Attack, I think it could be a good weekend, so we’re going to work hard to achieve that tomorrow and have a more favourable place on the grid on Sunday.”