With tenth and eleventh places in Practice, the two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders make a solid start to the Australian Grand Prix.

Collin Veijer and Daniel Muñoz began the Australian Grand Prix well on Friday, earning places in Q2 and learning to adapt to the track with a Moto2 bike. Veijer was tenth in Practice, with his teammate right behind him in eleventh.

Previously completely wet conditions improved substantially for the intermediate class riders, who were able to ride on a practically dry surface throughout Free Practice 1. However, temperatures were down to 17°C and humidity was at 66%, and the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders preferred to wait for the first few minutes to assess the state of the asphalt.

Veijer and Muñoz completed 14 and 11 laps, respectively. Veijer approached the session cautiously to avoid any crashes that could jeopardise his weekend. Nevertheless, the Dutchman made progress lap after lap, gaining confidence as the surface became grippier. In the final minutes, he lowered his best lap to 1:33.010, placing him 1.6 seconds off the top spot. It was a somewhat tough first session for Muñoz, who initially mirrored his teammate’s strategy. After his first laps, and beginning to enjoy the flowing Australian track that was drying out quickly, he experienced a technical issue late on that halted his session. Nevertheless, Muñoz finished 25th in the morning session with a best time of 1:34.195, 2.8 seconds off the fastest rider.

Once again, the track remained in favourable condition for the afternoon Practice session, with track temperature rising by 8 degrees and the humidity level decreasing by 10%.

Veijer was in great form in his second ever session at Phillip Island with a Moto2 machine. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rookie moved into the Q2 spots from the get-go, and into the Top 7 midway through the session. However, despite improving once again to rise to sixth place during the Time Attack, his rivals dropped him down to 12th with two minutes remaining in Practice. This didn’t allow him to secure his place in Q2 until his final flying lap, when he clocked a 1:30.840 for ninth. In Q2 directly for the sixth time in the last seven rounds, he put in a total of 20 laps in the afternoon. Muñoz -a first timer at the circuit this weekend- was outside the Top 20 for much of the session. He was then able to follow several other riders to achieve a great lap on his Time Attack, which catapulted him into the Top 10. Finally, he earned himself 11th place, just 0.79 thousandths of a second behind his teammate, with a time of 1:30.919. He made it into Q2 for the seventh time in his eight races with Red Bull KTM Ajo as a replacement rider.

In conclusion, positive feelings to start the Australian Grand Prix in a challenging track and in cold conditions with recent rain before Free Practice 1. Veijer and Muñoz will take on Q2 on Saturday, starting at 2:05pm (local time). In the morning, both will participate in Free Practice 2 at 9:25am.

Practice Results
1. Diogo Moreira (Kalex) | 1:30.307
2. Senna Agius (Kalex) | 1:30.315 (+0.008)
3. David Alonso (Kalex) | 1:30.535 (+0.228)
4. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) | 1:30.607 (+0.300)
5. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:30.740 (+0.433) 
10. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:30.840 (+0.533)
11. Daniel Muñoz (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:30.919 (+0.612)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I’m happy with today. It wasn’t an easy morning because of the difficult conditions, but we managed to go out there and put in some good laps to start to work here with the Moto2 bike for the first time. We needed a little bit of more feeling there, but we got that later on in the afternoon, where we improved in every stint we had on track. I just focused on me and my pace, so we worked alone and I felt quite good. I think we can be closer to the front tomorrow, so we’ll try to improve a little bit and work to be with the frontrunners.”

#17 DANIEL MUÑOZ

“It’s incredible to be here. It’s a new track for us, and now that I’ve gotten to know it, I can say it’s unique and a lot of fun. The day went well overall. This morning there was some uncertaintLy with the weather conditions, but the afternoon was good in that regard, and we were able to put in a good Time Attack. Now it’s time to analyse everything so we can take another step forward for tomorrow and have a strong Q2 -which is where we need to improve the most.”