The Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Moto3™ team kicked off their Tissot Grand Prix of the United Kingdom under the blue sky of Silverstone circuit, hosting the British leg of the championship, for the first time in May. A bit different to the usual August conditions than we were used to. Or maybe not? Eitherway, Jacob Roulstone and Valentin Perrone were back at it on Friday, eager to continue their progress across the English channel.
Grand Prix of The United Kingdom
Track conditions were a bit chilly on Friday morning for the opening session of the lightweight class, starting an hour later than usual. However, the sun was at the Rendez-Vous for Practice 1. After another top 15 result in France, Australian Jacob Roulstone got back in the saddle with 14 laps completed in the morning session to get the first feels of the longest track of the season (5.9km), with a fastest lap in 2’12.382 which saw him end the opening session in 16th. As the action resumed early afternoon for Practice, the number 12 could find room for improvement on his KTM machine, with better track conditions. A late 2’09.796 saw him take the 8th time of the 35 minute-session, and qualify directly to Q2 for Saturday. First target of the weekend achieved.
After a great campaign in Le Mans with a top 10-finish at the team’s home round and a productive test on the Monday at the Bugatti track, rookie Valentin Perrone arrived at Silverstone with everything to figure, with the young Argentinian having zero track experience in Silverstone. FP1 logically became a session for the discovery as the rookie learned the layout, and we saw him finish 3 seconds off the fastest of FP1. In the afternoon, Valentin made decent progress as the feeling on track and bike continued to get better and better lap after lap. After significantly improving his fastest lap to 2'10.375, Valentin finished at the doors of the top 14, 0.037 seconds from the Q2 spots, and he will be looking forward to trying grabbing that Q2 ticket on Saturday. The action will resume tomorrow morning with FP2 at 09:40 LT (UTC+1), before qualifying kicks off at 13:50.
JACOB ROULSTONE: "I had not realised I was in Q2 until I got back to the pit box, so I am quite happy to finish the day with this result to be honest. Practice was a bit chaotic in some ways, but this afternoon the feeling was quite good for us, and I improved some points on myself, which I am happy with. We still lack a little bit of something to get closer to the front, but let’s continue working that way for tomorrow."
VALENTIN PERRONE: "The first feelings on the track were not bad to be honest, we were quite close to qualify directly to Q2, so it was a positive opening day for us. We made decent progress between the two sessions, so tonight we will analyse together the areas where we can get better, and try to do a good FP2, and qualifying!"
PRACTICE SESSION RESULTS
1. Alvaro Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 2'09.104
2. David Almansa (SPA), Leopard Racing, +0.240
3. Scott Ogden (GBR), CIP Green Power, +0.401
8. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.692
15. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.271
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - A. Carpe (SPA) - 2'09.104 - 164.5 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - A. Fernandez (SPA) - 2'09.727 - 163.7 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - I. Ortola (SPA) - 2'09.270 - 164.3 km/h
Top Speed: 2022 - D. Munoz (SPA) - 242.6 km/h
