With his 10th place at Motegi, the Dutchman has now been among the ten fastest riders in four of the last five races. Muñoz is unable to finish after suffering a heavy crash on the opening lap.

There was a bittersweet Sunday for Red Bull KTM Ajo at the Japanese Grand Prix. The round at Motegi saw a very positive result for Collin Veijer, who finished tenth in the race to continue his steady progress in the second half of the season. Meanwhile, Daniel Muñoz suffered a heavy crash on the opening lap that took him out of the contest, although he escaped unharmed from the incident.

Skies were overcast at Motegi for the Moto2 race, with track temperatures of 35°C and significantly more humidity than on the previous two days.

Veijer got off to a good start, although he was unable to maintain his ninth position past the opening corners. He completed the first lap in twelfth place, then settled in at the head of the chasing group, which soon allowed him to climb into the Top 10. From then on, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was very consistent, lapping in the low 1:50s through the first half of the race. On the final laps, he tried to catch Albert Arenas ahead of him, but was ultimately just a few thousandths of a second behind him at the chequered flag. With 10th place in Japan, Veijer now has 45 points overall, and is 19th in the intermediate class standings.

For Muñoz, the race never got going. He had taken off from 17th place and maintained the position, but it was only to last one sector. At the exit of Turn 5, he tried to pass a rival on the inside, but was caught out by a dirty line that led to him highsiding. Whilst he was unharmed and was avoided by the riders behind him, he was not able to rejoin the contest. The Spaniard will continue to stand in for Deniz Öncü at the Indonesian Grand Prix, and has 23 points overall, rounding out the Top 20.

Earning six more points in the Team standings, Red Bull KTM Ajo remain in eighth place with 168. Next week, they move on to the Mandalika International Circuit for the Indonesian Grand Prix (October 3rd-5th).

Race Results 
1. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 34:50.326 
2. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) | +1.304
3. Diogo Moreira (Kalex) | +5.943
4. David Alonso (Kalex) | +5.985
5. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | +8.426
10. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | +12.635
DNF. Daniel Muñoz (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | +16 laps 

Moto2 World Championship Standing 2025
1. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 238 points
2. Diogo Moreira (Kalex) | 204 points
3. Aron Canet (Kalex) | 289 points
4. Barry Baltus (Kalex) | 182 points
5. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) | 172 points
10. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 100 points
19. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 45 points
20. Daniel Muñoz (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 23 points

Moto2 Teams World Championship Standing 2025
1. Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO | 371 points
2. Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP | 342 points
3. ELF Marc VDS Racing Team | 254 points
4. CFMoto Impulse Aspar Team | 250 points
5. Italtrans Racing Team | 220 points
8. Red Bull KTM Ajo | 168 points

NIKLAS AJO – Team Manager

“We had a positive weekend here in Motegi. Collin did very well from the beginning and he was more or less in the Top 10 in every session, and in Qualifying managed ninth even when riding alone. Today he was maybe a little bit too cautious at the start of the race and that is something we need to work on to be stronger in the future to finish higher but in any case another solid top 10 result from him. Dani was a little bit unfortunate in the race today. He showed great speed throughout the weekend but we still need to work more on the time attack to be able to qualify higher as it is so important in this category. In any case, it’s been a positive weekend for the team here at Motegi and we are looking forward to improve the results next weekend in Indonesia.”

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“It was a positive ending to a good weekend. The race was good and we took some points for the championship. I suffered a little bit at the start, but then we managed to be consistent with our pace when riding alone and chasing the first group. Maybe we could have moved up some more positions if the start was better, but we’re happy about the result and also with the weekend. We’re keeping up momentum in this second part of the season, so we’ll try to do so again at Mandalika next weekend.”

#17 DANIEL MUÑOZ

“Unfortunately, the race was short for me today. After a good start, I crashed out on the first lap. Fortunately, despite the spectacular nature of the crash, we’re okay, and next week we’ll have another chance to make amends in Indonesia. It’s a shame, because I think we could have had a good race here, just like we did at Misano two weeks ago. I want to thank the team for their hard work all weekend and apologise for the mistake today. We will continue working and learning from the process.”