The best Saturday of the season for Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 sees Veijer on the front row and Rueda on the 9th position.

Collin Veijer will start second at the Catalan Grand Prix after a near-perfect lap in the final moments of Q2. He made a late surge to claim a spot on the front row of the grid for the second time this season. Jose Antonio Rueda, after his best day of the season by far, made it into Q2 for the first time, with a commendable ninth position on the grid.

The day began well for the Moto2 field, with a slightly warmer track temperature than on Friday (14ºC) and lower humidity (57%), plus clear skies, for Free Practice 2.

Rueda quickly climbed to fourth position, continuing to make steady progress towards his goal for the day of making it into Q2. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rookie completed a single stint as a race simulation, racking up 18 consecutive laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. His best time was a 1:42.142, achieved on his fifth lap, which placed him seventh. This performance by the reigning Moto3 World Champion improved upon his best result to date in a practice session for the intermediate class. Veijer made a similar run to his teammate, placing himself in the Top 10 during his initial flying laps and completing only one stint in the entirety of FP2. The Dutchman also achieved his best time on his fifth lap, clocking a 1:42.424 to finish 12th on the timesheets.

Later in the afternoon, the intermediate class enjoyed 37°C track temperatures and 39% humidity, optimal conditions for qualifying.

In Q1, Rueda made it through to the fight for pole position for the first time in the intermediate class. The Spaniard placed seventh on his first run, amidst a tightly packed timesheet. On his second stint he had to make a save to avoid a crash, then comfortably made it through to Q2 with a 1:41.846, placing him third after eight laps. In Q2, the series rookie got off to a bad start, with all his flying laps from his first run cancelled out. However, after a tyre switch, he moved his way into sixth position with a 1:41.655. Unfortunately, due to the pace of his rivals, he ended up dropping to ninth, which will see him start from the third row of the grid –still his best ever qualifying result in Moto2.

Veijer sprung a surprise with a phenomenal finish to Q2. Having set a good base time initially that put him in the middle of the pack after his first run, a change of tyres came with an improvement in his speed. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider, running alone, managed to conjure up a 1:41.338, improving his front row time from the 2025 Catalan Grand Prix by some 4 tenths of a second. This time around, it wasn’t enough to secure pole position, but it did earn him second place after eight laps in Q2. Veijer will have to complete a Long Lap penalty during the race itself, due to an infraction at the French Grand Prix last weekend.

In conclusion, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team has had a very successful second day in Barcelona. With Collin Veijer on the front row and Jose Antonio Rueda on the third, the team will aim tomorrow to round off the weekend with two strong results, allowing them to finish this double-header of Grand Prix races on a high note. The 21-lap Moto2 Catalan Grand Prix will take place at 12:15 p.m. (local time) on Sunday.

Qualifying Results
1. Celestino Vietti (Boscoscuro) | 1:41.076
2. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:41.338 (+0.262)
3. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:41.436 (+0.360)
4. Ivan Ortola (Kalex) | 1:41.455 (+0.379)
5. Alonso Lopez (Kalex) | 1:41.521 (+0.445)
9. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:41.655 (+0.579)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I’m pleased with how the day went. We worked well from the start, and finally we achieved a great result in Q2. During the morning, the pace that we showed was quite good, whilst in the afternoon, Qualifying was really nice and we managed to set a great lap riding alone. It’s a little bit of a different situation from Jerez, with the long lap to do, but we will push to the maximum to see what we can take away from here. We know it won’t be easy, but we’re happy to be here again with riders at the front. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

#98 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“I’m very happy with the work we did today. I’ve been feeling great since France; we’ve taken a step forward, and it’s showing day by day. Qualifying went brilliantly, we achieved our goal, and now it’s time to focus on the race. The start of the season has been a bit tough, but it’s all a process, and it seems we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have a good pace, but it’s sure to be a tough race where the tyres will degrade a lot, so we need to prepare as best as possible to put on a good show and enjoy ourselves to the fullest.”