Texan adventure over and out for the Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Moto3™ squad who saw their leader Jacob Roulstone return to the saddle this weekend, alongside his new teammate Valentin Perrone. The Australian scored his first points thanks to a well-earned 14th place at the challenging Circuit of the Americas, while teammate Perrone unfortunately crashed a few laps to the checkered flag, while he was in the battle for the top 10.
Grand Prix of The Americas
Australian Jacob Roulstone took his first start of 2025 today at the Circuit of the Americas. The aim for the Aussie remained to get back the feeling of racing, and take all the experience and the laps possible to be able to quickly return to his level of riding from the end of last season. From his 23rd place, Jacob found himself in last after the opening lap behind Eddie O’Shea, 0.2 seconds behind. A crash involving two riders meant that Jacob regained his starting position sooner than later, with Rosenthaler now 4 seconds behind. After the first crazy laps, Jacob started to settle into his race pace, until he completely closed the gap on O’Shea after 4 laps, and eventually he made the move on the British in lap 5 to progress to P22, with next at sight Adrian Fernandez 0.4 seconds ahead. Halfway through the 14 lap-shootout, Jacob was up in 19th, 1.27 seconds from Ruche Moodley, but Adrian Fernandez was coming back fast from the back after serving his double long-lap penalty for jump start. The Leopard Racing rider overtook him, with Roulstone now back in 20th. A few crashes ahead helped the Aussie to edge the top 15, finding himself in 16th with just 4 laps to go. Fernandez was still ahead, 0.462 seconds. Was Jacob going to be able to score his first 2025 points on returning day? The Australian continued to push until he reached his first checkered flag of the season in 14th to score his first points!
From P21 on the grid, Valentin Perrone managed to gain one position in the first turns to exit lap 1 in 20th. The young rookie battled it out within his group to try keeping the contact with the riders ahead. Close ahead there was Ryusei Yamanaka 0.272 seconds ahead, and Stefano Nepa close in the back wheel. On lap 3, Yamanaka made a significant move to 16th, and Nepa overtook Perrone. Poleman David Munoz’ crash in the next lap allowed Valentin to retain the 20th position on lap 4. Perrone settled into a pretty promising race pace, in the 2’15.5, a similar rhythm to the lot ahead. After 5 laps, Valentin was in 14th in the point-scoring positions, while Jose Antonio Rueda had now made a small gap at the lead on Joel Kelso and Matteo Bertelle. The pace continued to improve for the young Argentinian demonstrating a strong willingness to stay with the group, as he had brilliantly done so in Termas until his last lap crash. In lap 8, the battle for 10th between Foggia and Yamanaka allowed Valentin to reduce his gap to them, until he was close in the back wheel of the Japanese, waiting for an opportunity to go through. The 73 successfully found a way through to 11th, as he continued to lap at a similar pace as the front group. Unfortunately, Valentin lost the front as he was trying to push for the final laps, taking Yamanaka down with him in sector 1 of lap 10. That’s another unfortunate finish for the young rookie, who goes home with a 3rd DNF after another strong race. Don’t give up Valentin, results will come!
That's it for Austin this year, it has been a lot of fun as usual. We are next headed to Doha for the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar, on April 11-12-13!
JACOB ROULSTONE: "I am quite happy with the end result of the race, although I felt really tired in the last laps, because I had not been racing in a while, and I obviously felt it today. In the opening laps, I struggled with confidence, I was not aggressive enough, but then we started feeling better. Anyway, our race pace has been good today, which I am happy about, and scoring 2 points is a good way to come back. It gives us confidence heading to the next round in Qatar, but we will obviously need to improve our first laps to aim for better positions."
VALENTIN PERRONE: "Our start was not too bad, I was overtaking riders with calm and without making mistakes. We were able to catch the second group with a good pace, fighting for top 10, but I made a mistake and crashed. I don't have an excuse, so I have to accept it, learn from my mistake, and come back stronger in Qatar."
HEERVE PONCHARAL, Team Principal: "Another tough and disappointing weekend for us in Moto3. Jacob Roulstone came back from a nasty injury, so we knew it would not be easy, especially on this track. However, I would like to thank him for his positive attitude which was rewarded by 2 points today, a good achievement considering that his last race was back in November in Barcelona. He used this race as a good warm up to catch up with the others who have already done both pre-season and two rounds, and I am sure that he will arrive in Qatar with a lot more confidence, and feeling better physically. I am very disappointed with Valentin Perrone, who ended today's race with a 3rd DNF. He was doing a super race, fighting for the top 10 when he crashed, but unfortunately, he was not smart enough today, and he continued to push to go over the limit, to crash and bring down another rider with him. It is a pity because he rode well, he clocked in the 8th fastest lap today, but we are going home with no point, while we could have scored points in the 3 first rounds. When you are a rookie, you just need to complete the races and see the checkered flag, this is the best way to learn, so I am hoping that he will learn from these 3 first rounds, and finally finish a race in Doha, to score his very first points in Moto3."
RACE RESULTS
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 31'23.456
2. Joel Kelso (AUS), LevelUp-MTA, +2.399
3. Matteo Bertelle (ITA), LevelUp-MTA, +4.200
14. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +25.592
DNF. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 5 laps
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 66pts
2. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, 42pts
3. Adrian Fernandez (SPA), Leopard Racing, 40pts
22. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 2pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - Matteo Bertelle (ITA) - 2'13.939 - 148.1 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2025 - Matteo Bertelle (ITA) - 2'13.939 - 148.1 km/h
Best Pole: 2025 - D. Muñoz (SPA) - 2'14.422 - 147.6 km/h
Top Speed: 2023 - S. Azman (MAL) - 247.1 km/h
