The Dutchman, with a great Qualifying, will start from the second row. Jose Antonio Rueda was 21st after missing Q2 by only 0.125 thousandths.

Red Bull KTM Ajo had mixed results in qualifying for the Aragón Grand Prix, which took place on Saturday at MotorLand. Collin Veijer placed sixth in Q2, whilst Jose Antonio Rueda missed out on a place in the second session and will start from 21st.

It was a fast morning on track under clear skies for the intermediate class, with temperatures slightly lower than in FP1 and three riders breaking the circuit record in FP2.

Veijer was able to take another step forward on Saturday morning, and made his way into the Top 10. Focused on the race, and looking to improve his feeling under braking during his first run, he made further progress after a trip to the garage. Entering into the Top 5 with a best time of 1:49.905, he was half a second faster than the time that earned him a place in Q2 in Practice. The Dutchman completed 13 laps in total. Rueda put in 14 laps, and looked more competitive and confident than on Friday. He remained in the Top 15 for almost the entirety of his two FP2 stints. Working both alone and in a group, he set his best time on his penultimate lap, with a 1:50.669 almost two tenths faster than his Saturday marker. He placed 14th in the session.

There were hot conditions for Qualifying, with temperatures up to 50ºC on track. This allowed the circuit record to be lowered again in the afternoon, as the pace continued to rise amongst the Moto2 field.

In Q1, Rueda went all-out with an aggressive attempt to form part of the frontrunners. After his first flying lap, the Spaniard was provisionally in third place. After his pit stop and tyre change, he took up a different position within the pack, but couldn’t match the pace of those around him. The 1:50.430 he set on his final attempt was his best time of the weekend, but the close competition left him in seventh, just 0.125 off the Top 4. He rode seven laps and will start 21st on the grid.

In Q2, Veijer went out alone, looking for a solo run early on. Clocking a 1:50.0 that put him in sixth, he went on to produce a second flying lap then propelled him to fourth place, achieving a 1:49.744. After a change of tyres, he went for a single-lap run, but could not up the pace and remained in a commendable sixth place for the Aragon Grand Prix. It was his best grid position since his fifth at the Italian Grand Prix.

All in all, it was a bittersweet end for the team’s hopes on this Saturday at the AragonGP, with a great result from Veijer on the one hand, but the feeling that they could have achieved more with Rueda, who improved more than the results says during this second day at MotorLand. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders will race on Sunday in the 19-lap Moto2 Aragon Grand Prix, which will take place at 12:15 p.m. (local time).

Qualifying Results
1. Alonso Lopez (Kalex) | 1:49.405
2. Izan Guevara (Boscoscuro) | 1:49.584 (+0.179)
3. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 1:49.634 (+0.229)
4. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:49.658 (+0.253)
5. David Alonso (Kalex) | 1:49.689 (+0.284)
6. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:49.744 (+0.339)
21. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:50.430 (+1.025)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“It was not a bad day, for sure. Free Practice 2 was a decent session, where we found something we were missing yesterday, both in terms of speed and pace. Then, in Qualifying, we had a great first stint. We tried to improve a little bit more in the closing minutes, but we still need to improve small issues for tomorrow. It’s nice to be back on the second row of the grid, so we’ll try to get a good start and fight on the Top 10 for a good result here at MotorLand. The pace is quite good, so let’s build around this on Sunday.”

#98 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“I have mixed feelings today. This morning didn’t go as well as we would have liked, although luckily we improved quite a bit this afternoon. It’s a shame we didn’t have the same feeling in Qualifying as yesterday, but this is the situation we’re in and we have to deal with it as best we can. It hasn’t been an easy weekend, but we’re learning a lot. Tomorrow we’ll try to have a good race so we can leave this circuit that we love so much with a positive feeling.”