As always, Saturday meant qualifying day for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ squad, who had both Jacob Roulstone and Valentin Perrone already qualified in Q2 following their good results on the opening day of the Motul Grand Prix of the Netherlands. Valentin Perrone qualified in 10th ahead of his 10th Moto3™ start, and Jacob Roulstone will launch from 17th on Sunday, as lights go out at 11:00 local time (UTC+2), for 20 laps.
Grand Prix of The Netherlands
Arriving at qualifying day with the confidence from a solid Friday, rookie Valentin Perrone continued his race preparations in the morning’s FP2, which he finished with the 19th time after 15 laps. Ready to hit Q2 at lunch time, the young Argentinian started with a first lap in 1’41.468 which had him in a provisional 13th place. He had dropped to 16th when he chose to return to the pit box after just 3 laps. The strategy was to then take the wheels of fellow rookies Maximo Quiles and Alvaro Carpe, who had both shown great speed so far this weekend. In the back wheel of Carpe, Valentin was able to clock in a 1’40.653 to a provisional 9th place, just before traffic outhere became a bit more hectic, with all riders having joined the track one lap later. Perrone still managed to gain a little bit more, to make a small improvement to a 1’40.416, which ended up being the 10th time of the session. The young 73 will be in good position tomorrow, to take a good start, and aim to stick with the front group, to be able to once again, fight for the big points, just like one week ago in Mugello.
Jacob Roulstone’s qualifying unfortunately was not quite the one expected. Also already in Q2, the Australian showed decent speed in the morning’s FP2, at the end of which he took the 5th fastest time. In Q2, Jacob began with a 1’40.728 to 7th, while Alvaro Carpe had set the first benchmark in 1’39.798. The Aussie stayed for one more lap on track while many had already pitted in, and he was in 8th at the break. When he chose to rejoin the action, there was a bit of chaos with many riders having slowed down, and that bothered the Aussie to find a decent position to go for one last time attack. His lap from run 1 remained his best, and he finished in 17th. The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider will start the Dutch Grand Prix a bit far, but the feeling has been positive, so he will be heading to the race confident that he can gain early positions and try to stick with the front group!
VALENTIN PERRONE: "It was not the qualifying I expected, because I felt that we had the pace to be in the top 5, but it was as always a crazy session. I tried to catch a good wheel to do a good lap, but it was difficult to manage with all the riders in the middle of the track. Anyway, the feeling is good, the bike is working well, so we will try to take a good start on Sunday, and stick with the front group!"
JACOB ROULSTONE: "I did not manage my positioning very well, and I got stuck a bit in the middle of the fast laps and the ones cutting their efforts. It is something that I do need to improve. Although our position is a bit far, I do feel strong, and I feel like I have more potential than our position, so let’s just try to focus on tomorrow’s race, and hopefully we can have a good one."
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. J. Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 1'39.757
2. A. Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0.041
3. D. Almansa (SPA), Leopard Racing, +0.066
10. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.659
17. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.971
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - C. Veijer (NLD) - 1'39.703 - 163.9 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - A. Fernandez (SPA) - 1'40.405 - 162.8 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - A. Piqueras (SPA) - 1'39.746 - 163.9 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - D. Holgado (SPA) - 222.9 - km/h
