The Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ goes home happy after our young rookie Valentin Perrone delivered an incredible performance for his first time in Silverstone on Sunday at the Tissot Grand Prix of the United Kingdom. The number 73 took the 5th place to take his best Moto3™ result to date, and teammate Jacob Roulstone also finished in the points, in P13.
Grand Prix of The United Kingdom
Originally qualified in 9th on the grid, Valentin Perrone earned one more position to 8th on Sunday following the penalty given to poleman Jose Antonio Rueda, forced to start from the back of the grid after slow-riding during qualifying. As lights were out at 14:50, Valentin took a rocket start to 6th after the first few turns, but then dropped to 8th behind David Munoz after some events at the front. He further dropped to 9th behind Nicola Carraro who had taken a solid start from 11th. At the front, Maximo Quiles had taken the lead, but everyone was so close. In lap 4, a solid early pace from Valentin Perrone saw him jump to 4th after some long lap penalties were given, but he dropped back to 8th shortly after, behind teammate Jacob Roulstone. Meanwhile at the back, Rueda had already come back to 11th after just 5 laps. The young rookie progressively made his way back up, battling it for 4th against Rueda after 10 laps. Perrone continued to show strength, not letting it go as just five laps remained, and he moved up 2nd in the blink of an eye. He dropped back to 5th, but he kept battling it out, and held his ground on his rivals. With just 3 laps to go, Valentin was in third in the back wheel of Rueda. He made a bold move on the Spaniard but dropped back soon after, as the final fight for the podium was definitely on. Valentin remained third on lap 14/15, keeping the fight for the potential podium, and why not the win, well alive. In the straight line of the final lap, Perrone dropped to 6th overtaken by Piqueras and Furusato. He let go two more places to Alvaro Carpe and David Almansa, but Piqueras’ late crash saw him gain back two positions to cross the finish-line in 6th. A late penalty given to Furusato meant P5 for Valentin Perrone, who grabbed his best Moto3™ result! What a solid race from the rookie on his first time in Silverstone!
Australian Jacob Roulstone advanced by one row to 12th on the grid instead of 13th, on the same line as Guido Pini and Nicola Carraro. Jacob gained one position after the opening lap, exiting lap 1 in 12th behind Pini, before quickly overtaking him in the next lap to move up to 11th, close in the wheel of Ryusei Yamanaka. Then it was P10 for Jacob who was on a solid early pace to try sticking to the front group. Jacob continued to gain position to close on his teammate Perrone, 0.386 seconds. After 5 laps, Jacob was in the game with the leading group, now up in 7th just ahead his teammate’s. After ten laps, Roulstone was in 13th, 0.8 seconds to Nicola Carraro, who was by him on the starting grid, but soon after he lost one more position. The Australian appeared to struggle a bit more with the low grip towards the end of the race, but eventually he managed to regain the lost position earlier, to finish 13th of the British Grand Prix and bring a few points to the team. It was a race for the learnings for Roulstone, who improved his race start, and he will look forward to continuing working in that direction as we next head to Aragon, for the GoPro Grand Prix of Aragon, on June 6-8.
VALENTIN PERRONE: "I am very happy with today’s race! We managed it very well from the start, we stayed with the front group, maintained the pace. We really felt comfortable, so I could stay with the fast riders, and I learnt so much in just one race. I was even fighting for the top 3, which is great for a first time here, but I lost some positions in the last lap, to finish P5. It is a great result, we were in the fight for the podium, and maybe the win at some point, so we can be happy with our weekend and the pace we showed today!"
JACOB ROULSTONE: "Today’s race was a good experience for us. I am happy with our first laps, I took a good start and caught back the front group quickly, by overtaking riders. However, I struggled a bit more towards the end with the grip, but we are making progress which is good. I obviously need a bit more experience at the front, but we will get there. Let’s continue working!"
HERVE PONCHARAL, Team Principal: "We have had 3 great races in Silverstone today, but the Moto3 class made the show once again to give the perfect end to this British GP, with another stunning race. We knew from the Practices that Valentin Perrone had the potential to get a decent result, but today in the race, he was from start to finish almost always in the top 6. At times, he was even holding the P2-P3 positions which made us dream of a potential podium. He stayed with the best riders today, did some incredible overtakings, rode clean and smart, to finish with 5th, less than 0.1 seconds from the podium. We have to remember that February 2025 was the first time he rode a Moto3 bike, so the progress has been immense, and we know he will continue to get better and better. Congratulations to him on a great weekend! I would also like to congratulate Jacob Roulstone for his weekend which has not been easy, but we have to remember that he is coming back from a nasty injury. His qualifying position was not the expected, but still he put his head down and gave everything in the race to finish 13th, which is a great result in Moto3! I am pretty sure that he will be fighting for top 5 positions alongside his teammate very soon, and that by the end of the season we will have managed to have both on the podium. Thank you to everyone involved, let's head to the next round in Aragon!"
RACE RESULTS
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 32'58.943
2. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team, +0.046
3. Luca Lunetta (ITA), SIC58 Squadra Corse, +0.908
5. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.176
13. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +6.626
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 141 pts
2. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, 87 pts
3. Joel Kelso (AUS), LEVELUP - MTA, 77 pts
16. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 24 pts
19. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 17 pts
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
