The Dutchman maintains his streak with a 9th position in Practice at MotorLand. Jose Antonio Rueda’s 21st place means will have to go through Q1.

Collin Veijer continued an enviable record for 2026 with a ninth place in Practice for the Aragon Grand Prix, making it a thirteenth consecutive direct spot in Q2 after thirteen rounds done. His Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 teammate, Jose Antonio Rueda, placed 21st and will have to get out of Q1 if he is to join the Dutchman in the Pole Position fight.

Free Practice 1 began with track temperatures of 31ºC, as the Moto2 field got their weekend underway.

The first session was somewhat tricky for the Red Bull KTM Ajo duo, who were unfamiliar with the MotorLand circuit and rode cautiously, aiming to get a feel for the track without taking excessive risks.

Rueda completed two runs: One in a group to get a feel for the track and the other solo, to focus on his own riding and put into practice what he had found during the first part of the session. With 17 laps under his belt, he was able to move up the order in the final part of the session, securing 18th place with a best time of 1:51.915. Veijer had to head back to the pits early to resolve a problem with his rear tyre, which only allowed him to complete four laps on his initial run. After his pit stop, the Dutchman opted to complete the rest of the session without interruption, allowing him to thoroughly familiarise himself with the track and work on used tyres -especially towards the end of FP1. After putting in 18 laps, Veijer -one of the riders with the most track time- finished 24th with a fastest time of 1:52.218. 

In Practice, the track temperature rose to 47°C for the Moto2 grid.

Veijer had a very complete session from start to finish, managing to get into the Top 6 on his first run. Having made clear improvement compared to FP1, he went back out for his Time Attack, making further progress to clock a 1:50.411, almost two seconds faster than his time from the morning. With 16 laps completed, Veijer finished ninth in Practice, thus securing another direct entry into Q2. Rueda wasn’t as lucky as his teammate across his 16 laps, despite having had a slightly more consistent morning session than him. He struggled to find his groove in the final part of Practice; after his first run, he was 14th, but was unable to improve his time in the final minutes and was dropped to 21st place. His 1:50.819 was one second faster than in FP1, but will still require him to go into Q1.

In conclusion, another successful Friday for the two Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders, who will head into Saturday’s race at MotorLand with, on the face of it, somewhat different objectives.   Rueda will face Q1 at 1:40 p.m. (local time), with Collin on Q2 at 2:05 p.m. Earlier in the day, both riders will participate in Free Practice 2, starting at 9:25 a.m.

Practice Results
1. Ivan Ortola (Kalex) | 1:49.791
2. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 1:49.849 (+0.058)
3. Senna Agius (Kalex) | 1:49.973 (+0.182)
4. Alonso Lopez (Kalex) | 1:50.227 (+0.436)
5. Celestino Vietti (Boscoscuro) | 1:50.296 (+0.505)
9. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:50.411 (+0.620)
21. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:50.819 (+1.028)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“It was a good Friday once again. The day didn’t start brilliantly, with some issues with our rear tyre, but we had an important second stint in Free Practice 1, with a lot of laps -which helped us to understand how to work with used tyres. During the afternoon, I had quite a good first run, and then I gave everything I had on the Time Attack to secure a place in Q2. I’m very happy to have done it once again, and now it’s time to focus on ourselves and try to improve a little bit more for tomorrow, as MotorLand is a new track for us with a Moto2 bike.”

#98 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“Today we didn’t have the best feeling, but this is a marathon, not a sprint, and you have to go through these days. We tried to correct some things after the morning session, but we couldn’t quite find the root of the problem. Luckily, we’ve identified it now, so I’m relieved about that. Tomorrow we’ll try to attack again, improve, and above all, enjoy ourselves, which is the most important thing when we get on the bike. This is a special circuit for me, so we’ll go all-out from the start.”