The Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ squad travelled to Doha this week for round 4 of 2025 taking place this week at the impressive Losail International Circuit located in the middle of the Qatari desert. After making his return from injury in Austin at the last round, Jacob Roulstone led the team alongside rookie Valentin Perrone, still looking to complete his first race after three unfortunate DNFs.
Grand Prix of Qatar
The schedule in Doha has always been quite different with night sessions on the menu to avoid the dry heat of the desert. As the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar action kicked off at 14:00 local time (UTC+3) with Free Practice 1, Jacob Roulstone continued his re-adaptation with much more confidence following the Austin round. He took the 20th time of the opening session with a 2’06.592, 2.036 seconds from the fastest. Later on, the night fell and Losail lit up for Practice under the spotlights of Doha. The Australian took advantage of the much-better and fresher track conditions to improve his feeling on the track, as he provisionally sat at the door of the Q2 tickets with just 15 min left on the clock. As he exited the pit box for the final run, Roulstone chose to follow a fast Angel Piqueras, whose pace eventually brought him up to a provisional P12 with an improved 2'04.480, with just 3 min left on the clock. However, a late improvement of David Munoz pushed him down to 13th, in danger, until last second improvements from Luca Lunetta and Tatchakorn Buasri pushed the Aussie out of the top 14. He finished in 15th 0.029 seconds from the direct Q2 tickets, and he will have to go through the pre-qualifying stage on Saturday.
It was again a new track to discover for rookie Valentin Perrone making his debuts in Qatar in Moto3™. The young Argentinian arrived in Doha with the clear target to see the checkered flag for the first time this season, after a third DNF in Austin. The first 15 laps of the day were, as usual, used to learn the track, take the lines and get the feeling, before heading to the night’s Practice and try increasing the pace. The rookie rode his best lap in 2'06.890 in Free Practice 1, before heading to his first night session. Perrone could make some improvements, but appeared lacking a bit of confidence in the unusual track conditions. Still, he could find a bit better with a 2'05.082 which saw him end the day in 22nd. Perrone will join teammate Roulstone in Q1 on Saturday at 17:50 local time, after their Free Practice 2 kicking off their day at 13:30 (UTC+3).
JACOB ROULSTONE: "I am extremely gutted for not making the cut to Q2, I was almost qualified until being knocked out at the last minute, meaning we have no reward for the work done today. However, we have to remind ourselves that we are just on our second round of the season, so I am still catching back on the pace. I am confident that with a bit more time on track, we will be back where we can be, because I felt quite ok overall!"
VALENTIN PERRONE: "The feeling on the bike was not the best today to be fair, and I also personally need to recover some confidence after the crashes from the previous rounds, but we are working on it. We know that we have many things to improve, so we will continue working with the team tonight, check carefully the data, and hopefully arrive at qualifying in a much-better shape."
PRACTICE SESSION RESULTS
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 2'03.277
2. Ryusei Yamanaka (JPN), MT Helmets - MSI, +0.244
3. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, +0.314
15. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.203
22. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.805
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - D. Holgado (SPA) - 2'02.276 - 158.3 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - T. Suzuki (JPN) - 2'03.135 - 157.2 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - D. Holgado (SPA) - 2'02.276 - 158.3 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - T. Furusato (JPN) - 250.5 km/h
