Both Moto2 riders make Q2 directly for the first time this year, with Veijer in 6th place and Rueda in 14th.

Red Bull KTM Ajo proved spritely on Friday in Hungary. Collin Veijer secured sixth position in Practice, after a seventh in FP1. Jose Antonio Rueda made it directly into Q2 for the first time this season. In the morning, he had taken 19th. This way, it’s the first Friday of the season with both riders from the team placing in the Top 14.

The weekend kicked off at Balaton Park with the intermediate class’ Free Practice 1, held in 30°C temperatures with 56% humidity, ideal for a smooth morning at the Hungarian GP.

It was an ideal start for Veijer, who set out his stall early at Balaton Park and managed to place among the three fastest riders of the session on the opening laps. After his pit stop, he went back out for the second part of FP1, improving his time by 4 tenths of a second to 1:41.446, which ultimately earned him seventh place. He completed 20 laps and was just 3 tenths of a second behind the fastest rider. Rueda also kicked off an upward trajectory on a track that is always demanding for a Moto2 rider. The Spaniard, consistently riding in the Top 20 from start to finish, completed 16 laps and clocked his best time on his final attempt. With a 1:42.137, Rueda was just one second off the fastest time of the practice session, demonstrating his rapid adaptation to both the circuit and his bike.

In the afternoon, conditions were somewhat warmer for the intermediate class riders, although the sky remained cloudy at Balaton Park, where the track temperature reached 35°C and humidity was 53%.

Veijer immediately slotted into the Top 10, and after fifteen minutes he had climbed to fourth position. However, far from being satisfied, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider lowered his time again, taking the provisional lead in the final minutes during his Time Attack. Despite improvements from his rivals, the Dutchman secured sixth place overall, extending his perfect record of Q2 appearances in 2026. He set a best time of 1:40.697, improving his morning time by 8 tenths, and completed 20 laps -once again more than anyone else. Rueda kicked off Practice by lowering his best Free Practice 1 time by more than 6 tenths on his first run. After a pit stop when provisionally in 13th position, which would have put him directly into Q2, he tried to improve his time again, working closely with his teammate. On his second attempt, Rueda managed to climb to 10th, although his rivals upped their pace to push him outside the Top 14, until a great final solo lap moved him from 15th to 14^th. With a time of 1:40.940, more than a second faster than his FP1 time, Rueda will be in Q2 for the second time this year -the first courtesy of his Practice result.

All in all, it was a great Friday for Red Bull KTM Ajo in Moto2, who managed to put in the best Friday performance of the season so far at Hungary’s Balaton Park. With the aim to keep the results, Veijer and Rueda will get their Saturday underway at 9:25 a.m. with Free Practice 2. Then, both will take part in Q2 for the second time this season at 2:05 p.m.

Practice Results
1. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:40.229
2. David Alonso (Kalex) | 1:40.432 (+0.203)
3. Filip Salac (Kalex) | 1:40.540 (+0.311)
4. Daniel Muñoz (Kalex) | 1:40.656 (+0.427)
5. Alberto Ferrandez (Boscoscuro) | 1:40.675 (+0.446)
6. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:40.697 (+0.468)
14. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:40.940 (+0.711)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I’m happy with today. I think we still have to find something in terms of pace, but we did quite a good job to go through to Q2 once again. Of course, we need to work more this afternoon to improve our feeling, with Sunday’s race in mind, but we’re on the correct path. I enjoy riding here and we found a good base from the very start this Friday morning, so we’ll try to keep building on this to take another step forward tomorrow. It’s very important to qualify well on the grid at a track like this, so that would be essential tomorrow.”

#98 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“I’m very happy to have achieved my first direct spot in Q2. Qualifying well is very important at this circuit, so we’ve already achieved our first objective for the weekend. The first session went well. I needed to get some kilometres in, in order to improve my reference points, so it was productive. In Practice, I felt much better, especially on my second run -where I was able to lower my time on several occasions towards the end to secure a Top 14 finish. Tomorrow we’ll have to push a bit harder and work really well, especially in Qualifying, if we want to be a bit more comfortable heading into Sunday.”