Special time of the year for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ team, playing on home ground this weekend at the Michelin® Grand Prix de France, the 6th round of an already exciting 2025 season. The weather has been, as usual in Le Mans, a tricky one, with small drops of rain here and there, and a fresh wind all day, but no heavy rain interrupted the opening day of one of the most popular events of the calendar.
Grand Prix de France
Fresh from an impressive top 10 finish two weeks ago at the Spanish Grand Prix, rookie Valentin Perrone was excited to make his Moto3™ debut at the iconic Bugatti Circuit. Track conditions were not the greatest this morning, with the cold and humidity of the night leaving the track a bit tricky at 9am ahead of the opening Free Practice 1 session. The start was slightly delayed as the race direction awaited for safer conditions for the lightweight class to begin the French party. Eventually, the action started, but the track remained tricky and slippery, with many riders going down, including our own Valentin Perrone. Still, he managed to take the 16th time of the session with a 1'42.377. The track warmed up a bit in the afternoon’s Practice, and better conditions awaited the Moto3™ class. The young rider improved his best lap time to a 1’40.762, one strong lap that gave him the ultimate Q2 spot in P14, meaning that Perrone will go directly to the final qualifying stage on Saturday.
Eager to race at the team’s home Grand Prix, there was Australian Jacob Roulstone starting his fourth race weekend of the season in Le Mans with the positives from a fresh top 10 result at the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago. The Aussie tried to find the feeling in the morning’s tricky conditions, and he took the 15th time of the session with a fastest lap in 1'42.331. In the afternoon, Jacob progressively improved his pace, with a late 1'40.775, but unfortunately he was just 0.013 seconds short of the top 14, with the last spot taken by his teammate Perrone. Jacob will have to go through Q1, as Saturday’s qualifying will kick off at 12:50 local time (UTC+2). Before that, the Moto3™ class will launch Super Saturday at 8:40 with Free Practice 2.
VALENTIN PERRONE: "We felt really comfortable from the beginning in Free Practice 1 this morning, riding and pushing alone. We had a small crash in the end unfortunately, but all good. In Practice, we managed to make a few good laps which will help us arriving on Saturday a bit more relaxed. For sure I will sleep well tonight, and we will do everything we can to do a good qualifying."
JACOB ROULSTONE: "I am quite annoyed with today’s Practice, because we did not reach our target which was qualifying directly to Q2. I feel like we could have done faster laps, but we have more track time coming tomorrow in FP2 to arrive in Q1 in the best shape possible, and hopefully we will do a good job and try qualifying well on the grid. A huge thanks to the team, the French GP is always really fun, so we’ll try to do a good job on Saturday."
PRACTICE SESSIONS RESULTS
1. David Munoz (SPA), Dynavolt Intact GP, 1'40.236
2. Ruysei Yamanaka (JPN), Frinsa MT Helmets - MSI, +0.105
3. Adrian Fernandez (SPA), Leopard Racing, +0.143
14. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.526
15. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.539
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - D. Alonso (COL) - 1'40.114 - 150.4 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - J. Esteban (SPA) - 1'41.059 - 149.0 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - D. Alonso (COL) - 1'40.114 - 150.4 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - S. Nepa (ITA) - 231.3 km/h
