The Red Bull KTM Ajo duo ride a total of 164 laps on the first part of the test at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto.

The Moto2 Official Test in Jerez kicked off on Monday with the first of two days on track, in which the 28 riders who will compete in the intermediate category in 2026 worked from 10am to 6am (local time) to prepare for the start of the 2026 season. Collin Veijer and Jose Antonio Rueda, the two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders, completed 92 and 72 laps, respectively, at the Spanish Circuit. Conditions weren’t as ideal as those experienced by the Moto3 field over the weekend, but much better than those encountered in Portimao just a few days ago. The pair finished 8th and 28th, respectively, on a productive day full of hard work and progress.

Veijer was one of the first riders to head out from the garage, shortly before 11am. The Dutchman, who had already made a strong impression at the end of the 2025 season, continued his upward trajectory, which was evident after just a few laps at Portimao at the previous test. He quickly got into the Top 10, where he remained throughout the day. The Dutchman mixed runs to try out various aspects of his bike with Time Attacks, and stopped for lunch with a best time of 1:40.082 and 47 laps completed. Despite a minor setback when his bike stalled in the second sector, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider quickly got back on track and took the top spot just a few laps later. With a time of 1:39.640, he was only a tenth of a second off the circuit record, set by Deniz Öncü during the Spanish Grand Prix last season. Eventually, a 1:39.478 at the last part of the day placed him 8th, improving his best time of the Spanish GP in more than one second. In addition, the Dutch rider has done so by working with the medium tire all day, trying to focus on his race pace, which leaves the team feeling very positive. With 92 laps in total, Collin was the rider with the second most track time of the day.

Rueda waited a little longer to finally make his Moto2 bow. With the asphalt cold early in the morning and the sky overcast, the reigning Moto3 World Champion went out slightly later than his teammate, putting in short runs to get to know the bike better and test the condition of his previously injured hand and arm. During the morning he completed 49 laps and suffered a minor crash at Turn 13, from which he was unhurt. In the afternoon, after lunch, Rueda put in longer stints and Time Attacks to shave several more tenths off his best time. Finally, with a total of 72 laps and a 1:42.462, the Spaniard decided to end the day an hour early to conserve energy for the second day.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo pair will be looking to make further progress on Tuesday in order to prepare for the start of the season with as much data and feedback as possible.

Combined Results (Day 1)
1. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:39:088
2. David Alonso (Kalex) | 1:39.240 (+0.152)
3. Izan Guevara (Boscoscuro) | 1:39.261 (+0.173)
4. Alex Escrig (Forward) | 1:39.301 (+0.213)
5. Barry Baltus (Kalex) | 1:39.343 (+0.255)
8. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:39.478 (+0.390)
28. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:42.462 (+3.374)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“This first day went ok. We put in a lot of laps and felt very comfortable on every run. I’m happy with this first experience with the track in this test. Also, we set a good lap time and we didn’t use soft compound tyres, so the feeling is great. It’s nice to be back with all the team together, so, in general, it was a good way to start the week and the test. Tomorrow we will try some more things to arrive more prepared at the season, so we’ll focus on this to finish preseason in the best possible way.”

#98 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“The day went well overall. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy after so long without me riding, especially since everyone else has been able to test for several days, but we put in a lot of laps and worked hard with my team to figure out what I need to focus on to improve. Our progress has been positive, as we lowered our lap times on many occasions throughout the day, so we’re happy with that. Now it’s time to rest up a bit, because tomorrow I have another tough day ahead.”