The Spanish rider made it through to Q2, but had to settle for 17th place on the grid. Veijer, who just missed out on Q1, will start 20th.

Daniel Muñoz and Collin Veijer took another step forward during the second day of the San Marino Grand Prix, although their grid positions perhaps did not fully reflect this. Muñoz comfortably made it into Q2, but couldn’t get the most out of the only set of tyres he had left and had to settle for 17th. Veijer missed out on Qualifying for Q2 by just 2 tenths of a second, and will start 20th on the grid.

In somewhat cooler conditions than yesterday morning’s FP1, Moto2 FP2 took place with track temperatures of 19ºC.

Muñoz moved into the Top 15 after his first two flying laps. After his first run and a change of tyres, he dropped down the order, but with fresh rubber he went on to close out the Top 10 with a 1:35.055 -his best lap of the weekend at that point. He was 4 tenths faster than in Practice, and a further 4 tenths off the top spot. Veijer needed to make the most of the session to make up for lost time in FP1, and sought to put in a long and productive run on used tyres to work on his race pace. He quickly improved his best time from Friday, moving into the Top 20. With new tyres in the final minutes, he placed eleventh, setting a 1:35.110 almost a second faster than his best time from the previous day. The Dutchman completed 15 laps in the session, the same number as Muñoz.

In Q1, the Moto2 riders encountered the same conditions as on Friday in Practice, with temperatures of 36ºC.

After a slow start, Veijer started lowering his times and improved on his final attempt. However, it would not be enough to break into Q2: The first two sectors were faster than anyone else, but he lost time in the third to clock a 1:34.944. Nevertheless, his time would have been faster than several riders who did end up fighting for Pole Position. He will occupy 20th on the grid.

Muñoz, was able to put himself in the Top 4 in Q1 in the final stretch of the session, after fighting for a place throughout. He managed to lower his time twice, and his 1:34.721 was 3 tenths faster than he had been during the rest of the weekend, to qualify second. It was the fourth time in five races with Red Bull KTM Ajo that he had entered into Q2, and the first time doing so via Q1.  He took a little longer to go out than the rest of his rivals in Q2, due to only having one set of tyres available. On his first flying lap of a single 8-lap run, Muñoz posted a 1:35.400, leaving him 17th. Riding solo, he was slightly short of his Q1 time, ultimately having to settle for a 1:34.969 -7 tenths off pole position.

In short, it was a consistent Saturday for Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2, which showed signs of improvement on both sides of the pit, even though the grid positions did not fully reflect this. The 22-lap Moto2 San Marino Grand Prix will start at 12:15 p.m. (local time) on Sunday.

Qualifying Results
1. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 1.34.216
2. Celestino Vietti (Boscoscuro) | 1:34.256 (+0.040)
3. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:34.291 (+0.075)
4. Barry Baltus (Kalex) 1:34.347 (+0.131)
5. Aron Canet (Kalex) | 1:34.362 (+0.146)
17. Daniel Muñoz (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:34.969 (+0.753)
20. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:34.944 (+0.728) * Q1 Time

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

Today went quite well. We had a good feeling in the morning -when working on our pace and also in the Time Attack. In the afternoon, we tried to get into Q2, but it wasn’t possible in the end. Our flying laps were great, but I lost a lot of time in the third sector, where I had the big crash yesterday. We set a good lap, but Moto2 is a very difficult class and we felt the impact of the session we missed yesterday. For tomorrow, we will try to fight back. Our pace is quite good, so we’ll try to have a good Sunday and enjoy it to the fullest here at Misano

#17 DANIEL MUÑOZ

It was a positive day today at Misano. We definitely took a step forward from Free Practice 2 to the two qualifying sessions. I felt comfortable throughout, both in terms of my pace and the Time Attack, so the feeling was very positive. In Q1, things went well and we made it through to Q2, but once we got there, I don’t think we quite chose the most suitable strategy. In any case, we have a good pace for tomorrow, so we’re going to try to fight back and see how far we can go.