A strong race gives the Spaniard his first chance to clinch the Rookie of the Year honour in Portugal. Collin Veijer crashes out at the first corner of the Qatar Grand Prix.

Jose Antonio Rueda finished eighth at the Qatar Grand Prix, delivering a very mature performance while riding with the lead group during the first part of the race. Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 teammate Collin Veijer had a much more unfortunate Sunday, as he collided with another rider at the end of the straight at the Lusail International Circuit, forcing his retirement on the opening corner of the round.

Cool track conditions greeted the riders at Lusail under the floodlights, with a track temperature of 35°C for the 18-lap Moto2 Qatar Grand Prix.

Rueda made a perfect start, holding onto his initial sixth place. After two very composed opening laps, avoiding any unnecessary risks, he found his rhythm, though the Top 5 had already pulled away, establishing a gap of nearly 1 second over him. Riding alone, he maintained a steady pace, extending his gap over the chasing pack until the second half of the race. With a Top 10 finish practically secured, Rueda maintained a solid pace; although he lost positions to two other rivals during the race, he was able to settle into eighth place, which he held comfortably through to the finish. Despite experiencing minimal tyre wear, the Spaniard managed to equal his best Moto2 result from this year’s German Grand Prix, allowing him to extend his lead over his closest rival in the Rookie of the Year ranking by another eight points. Currently in 16th place overall with 56 points, Rueda now holds a 29-point advantage over his nearest challenger, a gap that could mathematically secure him the Rookie of the Year honour at the conclusion of the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Veijer was unable to capitalise on a strong weekend and a favourable starting position to secure a good result on Sunday. Taking off from fourth, the Dutchman got off the line well, but could not bring his bike to a stop at the end of the straight. With his rear wheel lifted as he pushed his braking to the limit, he collided heavily with Celestino Vietti’s bike. Fortunately, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was able to walk away unharmed, but his bike was too damaged to continue, bringing his Qatar GP to an early end. Remaining on the 89.5 points he had upon arriving in Lusail, Veijer heads back to Europe in 11th place in the overall standings.

All in all, Sunday finished a little bit under of expectations for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team, which was unable to round off a very good weekend for both riders after a promising start. The team move up to ninth place in the Team standings with 145.5 points, level with the structure in eighth. After a one-week break, the intermediate class will return to action in a fortnight for the Portuguese Grand Prix on November 20th–22nd.

Race Results
1. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 35:13.340
2. Ivan Ortola (Kalex) | (+2.265)
3. Alex Escrig (Forward) | (+2.285)
4. David Alonso (Kalex) | (+4.143)
5. Daniel Muñoz (Kalex) | | (+4.962)
8. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | (+9.237)
DNF. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | (+17 laps)

Moto2 World Championship Standing 2026
1. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 286.5 points
2. Izan Guevara (Boscoscuro) | 273 points
3. Ivan Ortola (Kalex) | 219.5 points
4. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 215 points
5. David Alonso (Kalex) | 204 points
11. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 89.5 points
16. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 48 points

Moto2 Teams World Championship Standing 2026
1. Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP | 461.5 points
2. CFMoto Power Electronics Aspar Team | 419 points
3. BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 | 290.5 points
4. QJMotor – MSI | 239.5 points
5. OnlyFans American Racing Team | 209 points
9. Red Bull KTM Ajo | 145.5 points

NIKLAS AJO – Team Manager

“In general, it was one of the best weekends for us in terms of speed and pace -with both riders. They were constantly in the Top 10, very close to the front. The qualifying result yesterday was very good, but unfortunately, Collin today misjudged the first corner a little and made a mistake, and his race ended very early. Jose Antonio had one of the best weekends of his Moto2 career so far overall. He was constantly in the Top 10 and able to show speed in every practice -and also today in the race. Overall, it was a very promising weekend and very important for his future too, so that’s very good news for the team.”

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I’m not very happy about today. My pace was quite good all weekend and we were very strong yesterday, but today I made a mistake on the first corner. I misjudged my braking point, and it was unfortunate that another rider happened to be on the outside; otherwise, I could have just gone straight on and continued the race. It wasn’t an easy situation, but we need to learn from our mistakes -and we definitely will. I feel terrible for my team and for the other rider involved. It wasn’t a very smart move, but experiences like this make us stronger, and I’m confident we’ll have more opportunities to fight before the year is out.”

#98 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“I’m happy with how Sunday went. I had a good start, though I could have braked a bit later going into Turn 1. We handled the opening corners and the first few laps well, and our race pace was solid, so we can be satisfied with that. That said, we still need to fine-tune a few things to resolve a minor issue, so we have to keep working as hard as we can. We’re getting closer and closer to the frontrunners, which gives us plenty of motivation to keep pushing ahead of the final two rounds of the year -where we’ll aim to finish the season on the best possible note.”