The Dutchman’s 11th place in FP1 continues his perfect Q2 run. Jose Antonio Rueda finishes 26th after a positive day.

Collin Veijer earned a third consecutive Q2 spot on Friday at the United States Grand Prix, claiming 11th in Practice. Jose Antonio Rueda finished 26th in the afternoon after a good progression through the day and will have to go through Q1 in Austin.

Following a strong start to the Moto3 session, with riders already lapping at the pace of the 2025 Pole Position, the Moto2 riders enjoyed ideal conditions of 26°C track temperature in FP1, which allowed them to set a speedy laps, destroying the all-time lap record in Austin.

Veijer was competitive from start to finish in the morning. The Dutchman worked alone to find the best setup for Sunday’s race, completing an initial stint of 11 laps that left him just 8 tenths off the top spot. After returning to the pits, he improved his time again, with a 2:07.549 more than 1.5 seconds quicker than his best lap from 2025. After completing 14 laps, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider finished FP1 in 11th position, keeping his figure 0.8 seconds behind the fastest rider.

Rueda ran a slightly shorter stint, completing ten laps before heading back to the pits. On a demanding, long track with very different racing lines from Moto3 to Moto2, he focused on adapting to the conditions and making progress. The Spaniard was 2.9 seconds off the pace after his first run, then was able to substantially improve his time by 6 tenths in the final part of the session to gain three places. With a final time of 2:08.958 following 14 laps, Rueda finished in 24th place.

Fantastic conditions for the start of Practice, with much higher temperatures both in the air and on the track: 29°C and 47°C respectively. Having set a new all-time track record earlier in the day, they managed to do it again this afternoon, which showed just how good the Austin track has been all day on Friday.

Veijer had a solid start to the afternoon session, moving up to sixth early on. He only required a quarter of an hour to improve on his morning time, and was just 4 tenths of a second off the pacesetter. Comfortably inside the Top 14, he still needed to up his pace during the final minutes, setting a 2:06.906 that was 6 tenths faster than his best from the morning. It allowed him to place 11th, putting him directly into Q2.

Rueda also managed to improve on his morning time before the end of Practice, at a long and challenging track where the field were riding at an exceptionally fast pace, including lowering the circuit record. His second stint involved his first Time Attack of the weekend, and he shaved 2 tenths off his previous best time: The reigning Moto3 World Champion clocked a 2:08.442, 5 tenths faster than in FP1, leaving him 26th after 14 laps.

In conclusion, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders finished with good feelings the first third of the United States Grand Prix. With different goals for the second half of the weekend, both Collin Veijer and Jose Antonio Rueda will line up at 9.25 a.m. (local time) for Free Practice 2. Rueda will then take part in Q1 at 1:40 p.m., attempting to join Veijer in Q2 at 2:05 p.m.

Practice Results
1. David Alonso (Kalex) | 2:05.847
2. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 2:06.341 (+0.494)
3. Barry Baltus (Kalex) | 2:06.453 (+0.606)
4. Filip Salac (Kalex) | 2:06.504 (+0.657)
5. Senna Agius (Kalex) | 2:06.633 (+0.786)
11. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 2:06.906 (+1.059)
26. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 2:08.442 (+2.595)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I’m very happy with today’s work. I’m not completely satisfied with the final position in Practice, but we did some great work and found some solutions to things we’d been struggling with this morning. Overall, I’m pleased to be in Q2 again, but I know that we can do better in some aspects tomorrow. Now it’s time to work with my team in order to prepare for Qualifying and also Sunday’s race.”

#98 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“With the first day completed at COTA, we’re feeling good. We’ve had to focus on learning all the tricks of the circuit, and there are a lot of them due to its length. It’s a track I like much more than Brazil, so that also helps us speed things up -although it’s also a more difficult layout. I still have a lot to learn, so tomorrow we’ll take another step forward. The first day was just about getting acquainted with the track, so now we’ll work hard to be closer on the second day here.”