Collin Veijer strong third in Jerez qualifying, Suzuki P9
With a third place on the grid, LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto3 rider Collin Veijer laid a promising foundation for the Spanish Grand Prix, which will be held on Sunday at the Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto. Team-mate Tatsuki Suzuki grabbed ninth place on the grid in row three at the last second.
The race weekend began on Friday in dry conditions and sunshine, but also experienced rain on Saturday morning, which caused a real mess in the time sheets and made the track situation for qualifying tricky. This made the times set in the two dry sessions on Friday all the more important. Collin Veijer got off to a good start at the Jerez Grand Prix, as he finished a good seventh in free practice, which he then improved to third place thanks to his 1'44.762 in P1. This time helped the young Dutchman to start in Q2, where he finished in a similarly strong third place behind Colombian pole-setter David Alonso. Thanks to his promising race pace, the 19-year-old is aiming for his first podium of the season in the 19-lap race, having been denied it in the USA a fortnight ago due to a crash in the race.
Tatsuki Suzuki was already looking forward to his return to Europe in the run-up to the Spanish Grand Prix. At the end of the first day of practice, the Japanese rider was in eleventh place overall, so the morning rain on Saturday could no longer prevent him from making it into Q2 thanks to his 1'45.333 on P1. The routinier worked on a gradual improvement in the 15-minute qualifying session and grabbed a ninth place on the grid in row three just a few seconds before the end of Q2, giving him the best chance of a top 10 result in terms of points. The Moto3 race will start on Sunday at 11:00 (CEST).
RESULTS
Free Practice
1. David ALONSO/ COL/ CFMOTO – 1'44.590
2. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'45.669 (+1.079)
3. Adrian FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'45.919 (+1.329)
7. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'46.258 (+1.668)
14.Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – 1'46.712 (+2.122)
P1
1. David ALONSO/ COL/ CFMOTO – 1'43.710
2. Jacob ROULSTONE/ AUS/ GASGAS– 1'44.679 (+0.969)
3. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'44.762 (+1.052)
11. Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – 1'45.333 (+1.623)
P2
1. David ALONSO/ COL/ CFMOTO – 1'56.619
2. Joel ESTEBAN/ SPA/ CFMOTO – 1'56.715 (+0.096)
3. Angel PIQUERAS/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'57.007 (+0.388)
18. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'59.432 (+2.813)
20. Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – 1'59.569 (+2.950)
Q2
1. David ALONSO/ COL/ CFMOTO – 1'44.954
2. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'45.174 (+0.220)
3. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'46.013 (+1.059)
9. Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – 1'46.797 (+1.843)
