Moto3™ made the show once again with a stunning finish as we saw Angel Piqueras take the win on the finish-line to take the championship lead by one point on Jose Antonio Rueda forced to retire just a few laps to the checkered flag. Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Jacob Roulstone and Valentin Perrone finished in 14th and 15th of the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar, both bringing home points.
Grand Prix of Qatar
Australian Jacob Roulstone was opening the last row in 22nd alongside Eddie O’Shea and Noah Dettwiler following a missed Q2 session, but headed to the race hungry for a remontada. Roulstone gained 4 positions in one lap to exit lap 1 in 18th just behind teammate Valentin Perrone. Confident in his early pace, the Aussie progressed to 16th as he moved past his teammate and Joel Esteban after two laps. The second long lap completed by Alvaro Carpe meant Jacob made a short entrance in the top 15, however, Esteban defended his ground and responded straight away. A race incident ahead powered Jacob to 14th, now in the chase for David Munoz, as Esteban had already gone to 11th. On lap 6, a fast Adrian Fernandez was catching back. With just ten laps to go, Jacob held a gap on Fernandez, while he found himself 0.133 seconds off Munoz, not giving up for the battle for 13th. An on-fire Munoz gave an extra effort to progress to 12th to escape, leaving Roulstone stuck behind Nicola Carraro. Almanza’s crash ahead with 7 laps to go gave Jacob P12, still 1.2 seconds on Carraro. As 4 laps remained, Jacob was 0.7 seconds from a Guido Pini overtaken by Carraro the previous lap. Esteban’s crash on lap 13 earned one more position to 10th, just before he began a battle for 10th with Munoz, himself losing a bit of pace. Munoz recovered quickly to escape ahead, while the lot at the back was putting more and more pressure on Jacob. The Aussie lost his battles in the final laps, and he saw the checkered flag in 14th, just like he did two weeks ago in Austin.
Lining up in 19th on the grid ahead of his first race in Qatar as the sun was starting to set down in Doha with milder track conditions, Valentin Perrone took a good start as light went out at 17:00 local time (UTC+3). The rookie gained 3 positions to 16th in the first corners, as a battle for 16th began with Cormac Buchanan. The New-Zealander won the battle, and soon both Alvaro Carpe and Jacob Roulstone overtook him. The Argentinian was in 18th after two laps, until a crash ahead in the next lap allowed him to move up to 17th. Valentin moved past Stefano Nepa as he followed a fast Adrian Fernandez coming back from the back after his long lap penalty, but soon the 31 escaped. Valentin’s pace dropped a bit and we saw him in 19th with ten laps to go. Finding himself close to Ogden, the Argentinian moved to 17th, just behind Alvaro Carpe. Almanza’s crash ahead and a technical issue forcing Fernandez to retire powered the number 73 to 14th, but soon he was overtaken by both Nepa and Ogden. P16 with 6 laps remaining, with Ruche Moodley ahead. The young Argentinian started to lose a bit of pace and confidence in the remaining laps to completely lose ground on the riders ahead, but still he held on, and gave it all to finally see his first checkered flag of the season in 15th, and score his first Moto3™ point!
That’s both Red Bull KTM Tech3 riders in the points for the first time this season as we now head to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix at the iconic circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto, on April 25-26-27!
JACOB ROULSTONE: "Our final position is disappointing for sure. I did not make a good start, but I managed to be quite aggressive in the first laps to gain positions. I pushed as hard as I could, but I made a couple of mistakes. I calmed down a bit after the first laps, put my head down, and refocused to try catching back with the group ahead. We progressively managed to close the gap, but my rear tyre was done in the last 2 laps because I pushed a lot to come back from the back of the grid, which is a shame. Anyway, I am happy about the feeling and the sensations of the day, which have been much better. Huge thanks to the team and everyone else supporting me!"
VALENTIN PERRONE: "It has probably been one of the hardest races of my career, because I put so much pressure on myself after the 3 first rounds. I was scared of crashing again. At the race start, I felt good, I pushed a bit, but halfway through the race, I started to struggle a bit with the tyre, and I started thinking again of crashing. The last part of the race was really stressful for me, but I am happy to have finally finished my first race, with a point. Thank you to the team!"
HERVE PONCHARAL, Team Principal: "It was the last overseas race before we head to Europe, and it is good to finish the start of this season with both our Moto3 riders in the points, although we were hoping for a bit better, but we want to see the glass half full. Our rookie Valentin Perrone scored his first points in Moto3 as he finally saw the checkered flag of a World Championship race after his three DNFs. Jacob Roulstone, on his side, made a good race and recovered many positions from the back of the grid. However, the last two laps were difficult because he gave it all to recover, so there was not much tyre left, but overall it was good. Jacob has got his sensations back with now two rounds complete following his neck-injury, while Valentin will now feel much better after finally finishing a race. It will give them both confidence heading to Jerez, and I know that they can fight for top 10 finishes!"
RACE RESULTS
1. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, 33'17.268
2. Taiyo Furusato (JPN), Honda Team Asia, +0.009
3. Ryusei Yamanaka (JPN), MT Helmets - MSI, +0.042
14. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +12.847
15. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +20.102
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, 67pts
2. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 66pts
3. Joel Kelso (AUS), Level-up - MTA, 41pts
23. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 4pts
25. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 1pt
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
