The Dutchman manages to put together a great lap in the final part of the session, securing fifth place. Rueda narrowly misses out on Q2 and will start 21st after a good Saturday for him.

Collin Veijer achieved a noteworthy fifth place in Q2 at the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider put together a great lap in the final part of Q2 and secured a place on the second row of the grid. Jose Antonio Rueda, after a strong 13th position in Free Practice 2, will start 21st after narrowly missing out on advancing from Q1.

In stark contrast to Friday, Saturday saw excellent weather conditions, bringing sunshine, warmth, and a new circuit record. With temperatures at 28°C and with 75% humidity, the intermediate class got plenty of work done in FP2.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders both had a strong start, and were in or around the Top 15 from the beginning of the session through to the end.

Rueda completed 15 laps in almost consecutive fashion, working on setting a consistent pace without using new tyres. Although his 1:50.164 was 1.4 seconds behind the pacesetter, who ran a Time Attack on Saturday morning, the Spaniard lowered his Friday time by 8 tenths of a second and enjoyed a steady session over the course of 15 laps to be 13th. Veijer opted for a similar strategy during his 16 laps on track, focusing on developing his race pace and saving his fresh rubber for Qualifying. The Dutchman was one of the riders with the most track time during the session, and finished 16th with a 1:50.274.

In the afternoon, there were extreme conditions for qualifying, with a track temperature of 50°C and humidity of only 24%.

Rueda had a good start to Q1, with a pair of laps that provisionally placed him fifth. Although he had already improved his best time up to that point by several tenths, the Spaniard felt he had room to shave off more, and he did so again on two separate occasions while riding alone -but it wasn’t enough to get into Q2. He finished Q1 in seventh place, just 2 tenths away from making the cut. His 1:49.742 -which would have meant Pole last year- gave him 21st position on the grid, and was 4 tenths faster than his best time from the morning session, after completing seven laps.

In Q2, Veijer completed only one flying lap in his first run, provisionally placing him eighth. After a pit stop, he tried to position himself well to use another rider as a reference, which allowed him to lower his time again to 1:49.206. This put him fifth on the grid after seven laps completed, improving his previous best time of the weekend by a second.

In conclusion, it was a positive and consistent Saturday for the two Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders at Mugello. With a good feeling in both qualifying sessions, the Moto2 Italian Grand Prix will take place from 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello.

Qualifying Results
1. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:48.474
2. Filip Salac (Kalex) | 1:48.723 (+0.249)
3. Alex Escrig (Forward) | 1:48.841 (+0.367)
4. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 1:49.066 (+0.592)
5. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:49.206 (+0.732)
21. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:49.742 (+1.268)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I’m very happy with today’s result. My feeling was quite good in Free Practice 2, but that wasn’t reflect on results, as we did a long run focusing on race pace. I think we have a good feeling for tomorrow, so we’ll see if the work we did there is enough to get a good result. In the afternoon, Q2 went well. The first stint wasn’t amazing, but we managed to improve even more on our last laps. Our grid position is great, so we will see how it goes during the first laps of the race. We’ve practiced our starts a lot these last few weeks, and I’m sure we will be capable of being competitive tomorrow.”

#98 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“I’m happy with this Saturday, as I felt much better today than yesterday in terms of my feeling on the bike. Things went well in FP2, and we also managed to find some details to work on for Q1. I think we have room for improvement, but there isn’t always enough time to get everything right. Besides, this season the pace is incredibly fast, with record-breaking laps in every session, so we’re satisfied with the work we did on this second day. The race is tomorrow, and we’ll have to dig deep to try and score points, but we’re ready to fight and finish this weekend in Italy in the best possible way.”