Despite a minor crash in the morning, the Dutchman makes his way directly into Q2. Dani Muñoz finishes 21st in Practice and will have to go through Q1.

Collin Veijer secured a straight spot in Q2 for the Portuguese Grand Prix, after a solid and consistent Practice session on Friday. The Dutchman, who had a small crash at Turn 5 during FP1, finished 10th in the afternoon session. Dani Muñoz struggled more on a somewhat cold day with mixed conditions and will have to go through Q1 after placing 21st.

Moto2 Free Practice saw track temperatures reach 23°C and humidity of 68%, which had been decreasing throughout the morning.

Muñoz made steady progress, initially focusing on getting a feel for a track where he had limited previous experience on a Moto2 bike. He spent almost the entirety of the session out on track and broke into the Top 10 on his final run with fresh tyres. In total, he rode 19 laps, finishing less than 4 tenths of a second off the top spot in ninth, with a time of 1:41.851. Veijer also had a good start, beginning the weekend very well despite suffering a minor crash at Turn 5 late in the session. He escaped unharmed from the incident. Previously, he had got into the Top 10 after his first flying laps, then set a 1:48.964 for 12th place, half a second off the fastest time.

In the afternoon, the Moto2 riders took to the track for Practice. Rain held off during the afternoon session for the intermediate class, with track temperatures reaching 22ºC and humidity at 76%.

Veijer was the more active of the two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders at the start of Practice, and quickly secured a direct spot in Q2. He made use of the first few minutes to set a fast time, in case rain reappeared at any point. Closing out the Top 10 with 20 minutes remaining, he pitted and went back out on track. Just five minutes later, the marshals showed that there was a wet track, increasing caution amongst the Moto2 field. They waited to see how the track conditions developed during the most crucial minutes of the session and, whilst everyone did put in further laps, few managed to improve their times. Veijer was left in tenth place with a best time of 1:41.855 -a tenth of a second quicker than his lap from the morning- and made it into Q2. Muñoz left things later than his teammate, and favoured an early focus on his setup. He opted to wait until the final stages to search for his best time, and although he pushed to the limit on the last attempts of his 16, he ultimately had to settle for 21st position with a best time of 1:42.460. Muñoz will have to go through Q1 on Saturday, something he has achieved on most previous occasions with Red Bull KTM Ajo.

All in all, it was a busy Friday for Collin and Dani, who had a somewhat different first day. Tomorrow, with the aim of getting both riders into Q2, Red Bull KTM Ajo will try to achieve two good results for Sunday’s grid. Both riders will take part in FP2 from 9:25 a.m. (local time) on Saturday, while in the afternoon, Muñoz will start Q1 at 1:40 p.m. Q2 will be held at 2:05 p.m.

Practice Results
1. Aron Canet (Kalex) | 1:41.210
2. Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro) | 1:41.402 (+0.192)
3. Albert Arenas (Kalex) | 1:41.658 (+0.448)
4. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:41.751 (+0.541)
5. Senna Agius (Kalex) | 1:41.751 (+0.541)
10. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:41.855 (+0.645)
21. Daniel Muñoz (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:42.460 (+1.250)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I’m so happy about today. This morning I had a small crash because I was trying to push the front to the limit, so we definitely found where the limit was. Anyway, overall I felt very good in FP1, and also in the afternoon, where from the first stint the feeling was great. I tried to set a decent lap to go into Q2, and we managed to make it through, so I’m very happy with that. Now it’s time to focus on tomorrow and let’s see what things we can improve, especially in terms of pace, to get a good grid position and fight at the front on Sunday.”

#17 DANIEL MUÑOZ

“I’m happy with today, even though we didn’t get directly into Q2. I think we did a good job, although we lacked the ability to put together a good lap to get into the Top 14. The conditions today weren’t easy at all, so we’ll keep working to be able to achieve that tomorrow. Overall, I’m satisfied with everything we’ve done and worked on, so tomorrow we’ll have another opportunity to keep learning for Sunday.”