Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 head to the Malaysian Grand Prix following the cancellation of the race in Australia, due to adverse weather conditions.

Collin Veijer and Jose Antonio Rueda head to the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend, arriving at the Sepang International Circuit off an unusual weekend in Australia, where poor weather forced the cancellation of Sunday’s races. Having qualified 13th and 20th, respectively, Veijer and Rueda were ultimately unable to race at Phillip Island.

Veijer is eager to continue the progress he has shown since returning to competition. He is still regaining his rhythm following a collarbone injury that caused him to miss the Austrian and Japanese Grand Prix; after finishing eleventh in Indonesia, he was looking to take another step forward in Australia. He qualified thirteenth there, though the race cancellation prevented him from contending for points. Veijer remains on 80.5 points and holds twelfth place in the overall standings -just 2.5 points outside the top 10. Sepang is also a particularly favourable venue for the Dutchman: Last season, he finished ninth in a Moto2 race that was cut short by a red flag, while in 2023, he secured his first-ever Moto3 victory there, becoming the first Dutch rider to win a Grand Prix since 1990.

Rueda arrived in Australia fresh off two consecutive Top 10 finishes in Japan and Indonesia, but a challenging weekend saw him qualify twentieth before the race was called off. He holds 43 points and seventeenth place in the overall standings, while also continuing to lead the Rookie of the Year classification with a 16-point advantage over Luca Lunetta. Sepang is a circuit he knows well from his time in Moto3: In 2024, he finished third, while last season he qualified third but was unable to start the race after being involved in an incident during the formation lap. Now, he returns to the Malaysian track for the first time on a Moto2 machine.

Red Bull KTM Ajo currently sit in tenth position in the Team standings, with a total of 123.5 points. In 2016, Johann Zarco secured one of the most significant victories in the team’s history at Sepang, clinching the Moto2 World Championship for the second consecutive season. Pedro Acosta achieved a similar feat in 2023, securing the intermediate class crown at the Malaysian circuit. The team have also celebrated wins with Johann Zarco (2015 and 2016), Miguel Oliveira (2017), Brad Binder (2019), and Celestino Vietti (2024), alongside second-place finishes for Binder in 2017, Oliveira in 2018, and Pedro Acosta in 2023, the race where he secured his second world title as a Red Bull KTM Ajo rider.

In conclusion, the intermediate class will kick off the action this weekend at 9:50 a.m. (local time) with Free Practice 1. The 17-lap race on Sunday is scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m.

Circuit information – Sepang International Circuit
Length: 5.543 m / 3.444 miles
Width: 16 m / 52.49 ft.
Left corners: 5
Right corners: 10
Longest straight: 920 m / 0.572 miles
Built: 1998

#95 COLLIN VEIJER

“I’m very happy to be back in Malaysia, and we’re ready to focus on the weekend and give it 100%. It was a pity we didn’t get to race in Australia, but that’s racing -these things happen. I have fond memories of Sepang, so I’ll try to build on that and put in a strong performance right from the start. It’s a great, long track where high temperatures will play a key role, so we’ll aim to adapt quickly and be as well-prepared as possible for Sunday’s race.”

#98 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“After a strange weekend at Phillip Island, we arrive in Sepang with a lot of lessons learned. I’m very keen to try out the track on the Moto2 bike, and we’ll aim to get back the feeling we had last season there. I like both the circuit and the track very much. I will attempt to keep making progress session by session, just as we’ve been doing over the last few rounds. I’m looking forward to seeing how I feel, but I’m confident that we can have a good weekend.”