The next generation. After names like Espargaro, Pedrosa, Oliveira, Binder, even Acosta (!) the influx of young MotoGP™ KTM talent continues to roll through. In the Red Bull KTM Ajo ‘holding stage’ currently is Collin Veijer and we wanted to ask him about the vault from Moto3™ stardom to Moto2 education.
By Adam Wheeler
Collin Veijer stood out in his first two Grand Prix seasons in 2023 and 2024 Moto3 for two reasons. Firstly, the current 20-year-old’s raw speed netted 2 wins and 11 podiums in less than 40 appearances with Austrian machinery. Secondly, his passport, and being Dutch in a field of tough Spanish and Italian opponents. Veijer is now relearning his comprehension of Grand Prix in Moto2 which means a) the leap from 250 cc to spec-765 cc motorcycles b) more electronics and bike set-up and tire management to consider and c) harder rivals in what is the final proving ground for a potential MotoGP class move.
We find Collin in the narrow and dark depths of the Ajo pitbox at the Circuit of the Americas for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas ahead of his third Moto2 start. Veijer is in the company of his Crew Chief as they both hunch over a monitor watching video footage of the rider attempting one of the Texas turns. Video analysis (from material shot trackside by commissioned experts) has become a consistent and regular tool for teams in the last half a decade in MotoGP, and especially for rookies. Veijer makes comments on his lean and entry point when he notices he has additional company. He apologies, needlessly, and then we walk to the confines of the Red Bull Energy Station hospitality.
The most obvious question tumbles out first: how much of a ‘headbender’ has it been to try and get fast in Moto2? “There’s quite a big difference!” he smiles. “In 2024 my riding style for Moto3 was quite aggressive for braking and the exit of the corner, and the transition now means I have to be a lot calmer and smoother in a lot of ways, things like lean angle. Another example: on the brakes in Moto3 you can squeeze the lever all the way to the middle of the corner. In Moto2 that’s not the best way to ride the bike.”
“It’s not easy to make the change…but every time we go on track the feeling is much better,” he adds, and, as if to back-up his words, the tall, skinny racer would grab his first points and maiden top ten finish on Sunday.
Veijer sailed to the peak of Moto3 in rapid time. He won by the end of his rookie campaign and was 7th in the championship in 2023. He tripled his podium count in the second season and rose to P3 in the standings. He has no regrets about leaving the class for 2025 where he would have been a certain title contender. “It was the right moment,” he says. “There was a point last year in Moto3 where I was struggling so much with my weight and with my height. I think it would have mentally destroyed me to try and do another season there. The new guys in Moto3 now are smaller and lighter! I would have struggled more and the new KTM RC4 suits those smaller guys better. I’m happy to have made the move now even though it is not an easy one. I wouldn’t say it is too early. I’d maxed out Moto3, and I was happy to finish P3 in the championship.”
Collin knows being in Red Bull KTM Ajo means a hotter spotlight. The team won Moto2 championships in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and since 2017 have been responsible for filtering at least seven riders onto the MotoGP grid (“it’s a little bit more pressure from the outside because you are riding for Red Bull KTM and that’s what everybody wants…”) but he’s also aware he has some breathing room.
“I knew it would be difficult…especially because I had not ridden many ‘big’ bikes in my life,” he reveals. “I’d just focused on Moto3 machinery, and the bikes I would have for each season. I didn’t ride a 600 cc or a 1000 cc and I think that was a disadvantage to a degree…but I did finish Moto3 very well in before I changed my focus! It takes lots of training and work but I’m sure we’ll reach the goal… like we did in Moto3.”
The dynamics of a larger bike and the performance limits that must be found should not be understated. “I did some more gym!” he adds. “You need to because the bike is way-bigger. It’s heavier. You need the muscles.”
“You get used to Moto2 speed very quickly,” he quips. “I don’t find there is much of a difference. It’s more the acceleration. In Moto3 you can throttle to 100% from 0 in but in Moto2 you’ll just start spinning and will highside yourself. That’s a transition…because my Moto3 method was to go straight to 100% out of the corners.”
Collin references fellow rookie and former Moto3 sparring partner Daniel Holgado, who already penetrated the top ten from his first outing, as an example of how ‘big bike’ knowledge can pay off. “What he is doing is impressive. I knew he would be good because he normally trains with 600s. He knew how to adapt quickly to Moto2. All the guys that move up from Moto3 learn at different times.”
Acclimatization and then discovering the ragged edge while guarding feeling in the controlled Pirelli tires is the primary challenge for Veijer. Was it like going back to school? “A bit like that!” he says of the new ‘palette’. “I put a lot of effort into the process. We tried a lot of things in testing with throttle maps and engine braking. You can do much more than in Moto3 where the engine braking is kinda ‘made-up’. Using it now in different ways in Moto2 is quite interesting. In Thailand [round two] I had to change it during the race because I felt the bike sliding more.”
In the first weeks of 2025 he also had to mentally adjust from being a Moto3 protagonist to a Moto2 novice; from a winner to the backfield. “You are still an athlete and someone who wants to be up there all the time and that makes it difficult because you go from the top to the bottom,” he frowns. “It’s a hard thing mentally but I think we can manage it by trusting the learning process. It is also about taking what you want out of each weekend and if the team is happy then I am happy. I’m really happy to be with these guys.”
Collin was struck by a training injury before the recent French Grand Prix, and that has thrown a speedbump onto the track but he has time and, of course, potential on his side. It's been nearly a quarter of a century since a full-time Dutch rider scored points in MotoGP. The last time a racer from the Netherlands won in the premier class was back in 1986. Collin might be another athlete to flow out of the Red Bull KTM Ajo pipeline and then break the drought.
