It was not the Sunday the Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ team could have hoped for at MotorLand. The battle in the desert was cut short for Australian Jacob Roulstone who was forced to retire from the race after 6 laps after a solid start, a great shame looking at his performances of the weekend. There was a bit more light on the other side of the garage, with rookie Valentin Perrone finishing once again in the points, this time taking the 13th place of the GoPro Grand Prix of Aragón.
Grand Prix of Aragon
Rookie Valentin Perrone was starting from 15th, looking confident after showcasing positive pace and progress all weekend. The young Argentinian gained 2 positions to 13th in the first lap, exiting the opening lap behind Cormac Buchanan, and then there were two more positions gained to 11th in the next lap, close in the back wheel of Ryusei Yamanaka. Scott Ogden, who was overtaken by Valentin in the first turns of the race, pressed charges again on Perrone, leaving our number 73 in 13th for a while. The rookie did not let go though and fought back, but Ogden remained at the front. While Valentin rode at a decent pace and made an appearance in 11th, the young man defended well his ground on his rivals, while trying to manage the tire drop. The race was tough, but Perrone still managed to see the checkered flag in 13th, and bring the team 3 points!
The battle in the desert of Aragón awaited Jacob Roulstone, starting from 6th on the grid, his best season’s qualifying result, and the Aussie was for sure eager to turn this into his first big points of 2025. As lights were out at 11:00 LT, Jacob powered through with the front group but lost a couple of positions to exit the first corner in 9th. He quickly went past Taiyo Furusato to 8th exiting the first lap of 17. Then, there was a small battle for 7th between Roulstone and Angel Piqueras from the start of lap 2 as the two kept overtaking each other, but eventually it was our number 12 who overcame it. The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider maintained a solid pace allowing him to move up to 6th, but we saw the Australian drop a few positions on lap 6, just before he entered the pits, appearing to have a technical issue. He tried to rejoin the race, but he was forced to withdraw. A disappointing outcome for Roulstone who had done one of his best season’s weekends. Knowing the pace and the confidence have been there, he will look to bounce back in two weeks as the team heads next to beautiful Mugello, for the Grand Prix of Italy, on June 20-21-22.
VALENTIN PERRONE: "It was a difficult race, super fast, and I felt on the limit quite a lot. I tried to follow the front group from the start, but they made the gap at some point. I decided to just hold the pace as much as I could, manage my tyres which were dropping, and take the experience on this kind of track in hot conditions. Starting from 15th was not ideal, it is difficult to catch the front group, but anyway, it was one for learning, and I look forward to the next one in Mugello."
JACOB ROULSTONE: "I am very upset with today of course. I think that I was riding one of my best races. The start was not perfect, but I fought my way back and I felt quite quick in the group. From the 4th lap, I felt there was an issue, maybe a mapping issue, so I tried to change it, but could not, and I decided to go back to the pitlane. I changed the map when the bike stopped, and returned on track, but unfortunately it did not change anything. Anyway, we were able to show a bit more of ourselves today, it is just a shame that we could not show all our potential on this track. It is racing, so let’s just focus on the next round."
HERVE PONCHARAL, Team Principal: "Sad ending to our Aragon weekend in Moto3 ! Jacob Roulstone had done a great job this weekend, qualifying on the second row. He took a decent start with the front group, with good aggressivity in the first laps. Unfortunately, when we saw Jacob raising his hand, we understood that there was an issue. I think that the adrenaline pushed him to go back on track, but it was already too late. It was probably an engine problem which needs to be checked, but it is a great pity for us. These problems almost never happen, and when they do, it is when you are doing a great race. Anyway, I want to thank Jacob for his strong weekend, he did nothing wrong, and he pushed. I want to tell him to keep his positivity and keep the work going, and the results will come sooner than later. The weekend was much more difficult for Valentin Perrone. We were full of hopes after his great campaign in Silverstone, but we understood from the beginning of the weekend that it was not going to be easy. Valentin is still learning, and managing tyres on a track like this with a big drop is not an easy task. He took some points, with an ok gap to the winner so I am hoping that he learnt a lot today. Not the weekend we wanted, but let’s keep positive, let’s keep pushing, and head next to beautiful Mugello!"
RACE RESULTS
1. David Muñoz (SPA), Dynavolt Intact GP, 33'33.745
2. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Viel Aspar Team, +0.050
3. Alvaro Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0.381
13. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +6.581
DNF. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 10 laps
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 149 pts
2. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, 97 pts
3. Joel Kelso (AUS), LEVELUP - MTA, 86 pts
16. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 27 pts
20. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 17 pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - J. Rueda (SPA) - 1'56.361 - 157.0 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2025 - L. Lunetta (ITA) - 1'56.912 - 156.3 km/h
Best Pole: 2025 - J. Rueda (SPA) - 1'56.361 - 157.0 km/h
Top Speed: 2025 - L. Lunetta (ITA) - 249.6 km/h
