The Dutchman places tenth in Q2, while Jose Antonio Rueda takes his best Moto2 Qualifying result with 19th.

For the fifth time in five races in 2026, Collin Veijer managed to qualify in the Top 10 in Q2 at the French Grand Prix. The Dutchman will start from 10th place at Le Mans, with teammate Jose Antonio Rueda claiming his best qualifying result in 19th -just 16 thousandths of a second away from making the cut for Q2. Before, during the FP2 session, he achieved his best result in a Moto2 practice session: 16th.

The sun was out at Le Mans in the morning for the second consecutive day in Moto2 Free Practice. With an ambient temperature of 16°C and 63% humidity, the riders took to the track for the 30-minute FP2 session.

Veijer focused on developing his race pace for Sunday’s race, leaving the Time Attack section of his work for the final laps. Initially running in the Top 15, he made a leap up the order with three minutes remaining, approaching his best time from Saturday and moving into the Top 10. Ultimately, the Dutchman secured 9th place with a best time of 1:34.615, completing 16 laps in total. Making a significant leap forward at the start of the second day was Jose Antonio Rueda, even coming close to the Top 10. Having improved his best Practice time by up to 4 tenths of a second on his seventh lap, he continued working to fine-tune aspects for Sunday’s race during the rest of the session. The Spaniard finished 16th, his best placing so far in a practice session, with a time of 1:35.054, just 1 second behind the leader. He completed 19 consecutive laps of the French circuit, the longest run of any Moto2 rider.

After the midday break, Qualifying began with track temperatures exceeding 35°C and 47% humidity.

In Q1, Rueda made another solid start, and was on his way into Q2 on his first run. With a lap time of 1:34.783 in his pocket, set riding by himself and 3 tenths of a second faster than his morning time, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rookie headed to the pits for a tyre change. However, improvements from his rivals dropped him from third place to seventh. Rueda, once again on his own, strung together two even faster laps, with a superb 1:34.456 leaving him just 16 thousandths of a second shy of his first Q2 appearance. His time was just five tenths off the lap that eventually earned pole position. In total, he completed nine laps.

In Q2 Veijer had to fight his way back from 17th place after his first flying lap. The Dutchman recovered immediately, rising to seventh on his second attempt. After returning to the garage, he then managed to improve his time, achieving his best lap at Le Mans so far by more than 3 tenths of a second (1:34.171). However, despite being just 2 tenths of a second off pole, he was tenth on the grid -in a session where the circuit record was broken once again.

All in all, things are looking promising ahead of Sunday’s race for both Collin Veijer and Jose Antonio Rueda, who will be aiming to finish the French Grand Prix on a high note. The 22-lap Moto2 French Grand Prix takes place on Sunday at 12:15 p.m. (local time).

Qualifying Results
1. Izan Guevara (Boscoscuro) | 1:33.910
2. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 1:33.996 (+0.086)
3. Filip Salac (Kalex) | 1:34.020 (+0.110)
4. Barry Baltus (Kalex) | 1:34.076 (+0.166)
5. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:34.076 (+0.166)
10. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:34.171 (+0.261)
19. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:34.456 (+0.546)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I’m not very happy with today. This morning, we worked with the used tyre, but it was a little bit difficult with the cold. Later, I tried my best in Qualifying, but we couldn’t get a better result in Q2. The first stint wasn’t very good, so I needed to give it 100% on the second one, but I encountered some riders on the gravel and I couldn’t push if I wanted to avoid a penalty. It’s a little bit unfortunate, but this is what it is. I’ll  try my best from 10th position tomorrow because we’re able to achieve a good result here.”

#98 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“Today we took a big step forward. I’m very, very happy with what we achieved today and I really enjoyed being on the bike. We’ve worked hard with tomorrow’s race in mind, so we’ll try to put on a good performance and be as close to the front as possible. Let’s hope we have good weather conditions, and if not, we’ll have to adapt, give it our all, and finish this French Grand Prix on a high note.”