The track action resumed on Saturday morning at the Tissot Grand Prix of the United Kingdom with the Moto3™ class back in the game with Free Practice 2, followed by the qualifying sessions. Coming all the way from Q1 which he topped, Argentinian Valentin Perrone qualified in 9th on the grid, and teammate Jacob Roulstone will start the British Grand Prix from 13th.
Grand Prix of The United Kingdom
Friday was a positive day for rookie Valentin Perrone from Red Bull KTM Tech3, who narrowly missed out on the direct Q2 tickets after what was just his first day on the iconic Silverstone layout of 5.9km. A positive FP2 with the 7th best time of the session gave an extra boost of confidence to Valentin before the afternoon’s qualifying shootout. The number 73 launched his Q1 with a 2'12.251 immediately placing him in a provisional top 4 before he returned to the pit box. After meticulously picking his time to return to the track, Valentin was left with just one last flying lap. The young boy improved almost all his sectors to clock in a 2’10.798 that saw him win the battle for Q2! Warmed up from Q1, the rookie joined the other riders in the final qualifying session, starting with a solid 2’10.396 which placed him at a provisional 6th place heading back to the pit box. For the second and final run, the number 73 tried to go alongside the group led by Alvaro Carpe, but quickly the traffic became a bit messy out there with many riders waiting for each other. No further improvements were made for Valentin, and he ended up with the 9th time, as he will close the third row on Sunday’s starting grid!
Already qualified in Q2, Australian Jacob Roulstone was looking forward to more track action in England, despite the weather conditions having changed a lot. Cold, humidity and wind were on the menu for the boys today. FP2 was about adapting to the track in these conditions for the #12 who closed the opening session of the day with a fastest in 2'25.940 (+6.201). Back on track at 14:15 LT for Q2, the Aussie first started with a 2'11.256, and then he remained on track while many had already gone back to their pit boxes. The target was to ride solo, but he saw his last lap cancelled following a shortcut. Still provisionally behind, Roulstone gave an extra push in his final flying lap to improve to 2’10.753, and place his KTM in 13th on the grid ahead of Sunday’s race, scheduled at 14:30 local time (UCT+1).
VALENTIN PERRONE: "Super happy with our day. We made a really good lap in Q1 to qualify for the next session, and then as I was already in a good rhythm, I quickly made a good lap in Q2. In the second run, I was behind the fast guys, I was improving, but we had some riders in the middle and it cut our efforts. Anyway, P9 is still a good result for us, we are happy, and we look forward to the race!"
JACOB ROULSTONE: "Not too bad of a qualifying. Annoyingly, I had to do my lap on my own, but I had quite a good pace. However, we were once again bothered by slow riders just there in the middle, which cut my efforts. Big shame. We still have a little bit of work to do as a team for tomorrow, but I am confident that we can have a good race. Hopefully the weather will be good, but I am feeling positive about it!"
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 2'09.449
2. Alvaro Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0.107
3. Angel Piquera (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, +0.396
9. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.947
13. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.304
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
