The Spaniard earns a spot on the second row of the grid at the Malaysian Grand Prix, while Collin Veijer will start from 13th.

Daniel Muñoz achieved his best grid position as a World Championship rider on Saturday in Sepang, and will start from fifth for the Malaysian Grand Prix after being third in the Free Practice 2. Teammate Collin Veijer will start from thirteenth, as he continues the adaptation to the Malaysian circuit on a Moto2 bike.

Just like on Friday, the intermediate class was unaffected by the inclement weather experienced so far this weekend. The Moto2 field was presented with track temperatures of 29°C and a very high humidity level of 81% for FP2.

Muñoz got off to a solid start, and was in the middle of the pack as he worked on tyres with fewer laps in them throughout the session -especially on his first outing. However, after returning to the pits, the Spaniard made a significant step up with his lap times, placing himself third with an attempt close to the circuit record. His 2:03.680 was just 0.047s from the top spot, and was his best ever lap of the circuit by more than a second. He completed a total of eleven laps. Veijer ran twelve laps, starting out on used tyres, and tried to make the most of the session to prepare for the race. During his first run, the Dutchman remained far off the frontrunners, but following a change of tyres he improved by 1.1 seconds on his first flying lap, shaving another 2 tenths off on the next attempt. He could have climbed even further up the timesheets on his final attempt, but a yellow flag due to a crash saw his time disallowed, and his 2:04.916 lap left him in 22nd place.

The intermediate class enjoyed by far the best conditions of the weekend in Q2, with track temperatures up to 48°C and only 58% humidity -much lower than in the other sessions.

Muñoz made a more competitive start than in recent rounds, placing himself in the Top 12. After going back to the pits, he went out alongside Barry Baltus, who temporarily took Pole Position, and the Spaniard took advantage of his speed to set a 2:03.581, improving by a tenth on the time set in FP2. It earned him fifth on the grid, for his best ever result in the Moto2 World Championship. Previously, he had been sixth at the Catalan Grand Prix. In total, Muñoz put in six laps in the session. Veijer gradually improved his best time during Q2, both in his first and second stints. Initially in 15th, with a lap much quicker than in Practice on Friday, he then positioned himself within the group to gain good references. He managed to lower his times on his final two flying laps, first breaking into the low 2:04s, then breaking that barrier for the first time with a 2:03.980. Veijer improved 9 tenths of a second on his best time from Friday, with seven laps completed, for 13th on the grid. Even so, Collin will start from 12th due to a penalty for another rider.

In Sunday’s 17-lap Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix, the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders will try to score points for a thirteenth consecutive round. The race gets underway at 1:15pm (local time).

Qualifying Results
1. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 2:02.858
2. Barry Baltus (Kalex) | 2:03.420 (+0.562)
3. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) | 2:03.449 (+0.591)
4. Albert Arenas (Kalex) | 2:03.483 (+0.625)
5. Daniel Muñoz (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 2:03.581 (+0.723)
13. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 2:03.980 (+1.122)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I wasn’t very confident today. I think we could have done better. The feeling is not amazing and the change between Moto3 and Moto2 is bigger than I thought. I’m enjoying the track because it’s very nice, but still we have to find the key points required to be faster. For tomorrow, we have to focus on getting into the points and on the pace we have, which is not too bad. This afternoon we will try to work as much as possible to try to understand what we can improve.”

#17 DANIEL MUÑOZ

“I’m very happy with today’s performance. It was a positive Saturday in which we were able to keep up the pace we had yesterday. That was something we had been missing from the last few weekends, so I’m very happy about that aspect, and also about having achieved my best ever position in Q2. I’m motivated to try to finish the job tomorrow in the best possible way, so let’s try our best our best and enjoy the race to the maximum.”