The Dutchman matches his Practice result from the Spanish GP and continues his perfect streak of Q2 appearances. Rueda finishes 27th after suffering a heavy highside in the afternoon.

Collin Veijer continues to show signs that he is approaching a return to his best form. The Dutchman was eleventh in FP1 and and fourth in Practice at the San Marino Grand Prix on Friday. Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Jose Antonio Rueda faced a tougher time, struggling in the morning and suffering a massive crash in the final minutes of Practice. He will need to go through Q1 on Saturday.

The intermediate class were able to run slicks right from the start of the session, with an essentially dry surface and track temperature of 20°C.

Veijer gradually built up his pace without taking excessive risks, allowing him to adjust to the track conditions and the tricky racing line. Splitting his session into two distinct stints, the Dutchman managed to up his pace in the closing stages of the session, improving one last time just as the chequered flag came out. His 1:35.879 gave him 11th place -just 8 tenths off the fastest rider and only 2 tenths shy of the Top 8. He put in a total of 17 laps.

Rueda was able to ride 21 laps -more than any other rider in the class. Opting for a single, continuous run, he prioritised finding his limit at a circuit where he had not previously ridden on a Moto2 bike. The Spaniard steadily found his rhythm, allowing him to set his fastest lap of 1:36.635 on his 16th attempt, and on used tyres. He placed 25th, just over 1.5 seconds off the fastest time.

Conditions during Practice were even more favourable than in the morning, and track temperature had risen to 36°C for a completely dry session.

Veijer quickly stepped up his pace, positioning himself near the Top 10 early on. Solid and consistent from the outset and showing promise for Sunday’s race, he returned to the pits to fine-tune details before heading back out for his Time Attack. Feeling as confident as he has all season, Veijer improved his initial time on several occasions, ultimately securing fourth place with a 1:34.383 -completing 18 laps and beating his best time from last year by 6 tenths of a second. Rueda did not have the best Practice: Having spent his first run near the Top 20, he attempted his Time Attack but suffered a heavy crash when pushing for pace. While chasing his teammate for a tow, the Spaniard suffered a nasty highside exiting Turn 5, landing head-first on the asphalt. Fortunately, he was able to walk away, with the incident resulting in nothing more than a minor knock. Rueda was 27th, with a best time of 1:35.571, after completing 13 laps.

Both riders will be back on track on Saturday at 9:25 a.m. (local time) for Free Practice 2. Later in the afternoon, Rueda will go into Q1 from 1:40 p.m., while Veijer will continue his run of Q2 appearances at 2:05 p.m.

Practice Results
1. Senna Agius (Kalex) | 1:34.142
2. Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) | 1:34.262 (+0.120)
3. David Alonso (Kalex) | 1:34.275 (+0.133)
4. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:34.383 (+0.241)
5. Daniel Holgado (Kalex) | 1:34.471 (+0.329)
27. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:35.571 (+1.429)

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I’m very happy with this first day at Misano. We made it through to Q2 again, so the target has been achieved. My feeling is good, but we still have some things to improve, so we’ll work hard this afternoon and try to take a positive step forward tomorrow. I’m proud of how the first day went, so now we’ll try to build on this during the rest of the weekend. We need to show our potential during all three days, as we did at Aragon, so we have to keep pushing. Starting at the front is very important here, so having a good Qualifying performance is something we will aim to do tomorrow.”

#98 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“These last few weekends have been a bit tough, but this crash shouldn’t change our goal. We haven’t quite figured out the cause of the crash, but these things happen. I rode off-track a few corners earlier, so maybe the tyre was a bit dirtier than usual. The best thing, without a doubt, is that fortunately I didn’t get hurt, so we just have to pick ourselves back up and keep going. Regardless, we’re working in the right way; the team are helping me a lot, and we need to look forward so the results will come.”