The 2025 Motul Grand Prix of the Netherlands will be a weekend to remember forever for our young rookie Valentin Perrone, who took his maiden Grand Prix podium on Sunday with the 3rd place of a hectic Moto3™ race at the TT Circuit Assen. He is the first Argentinian rider to reach the podium since 2021, and he will be for sure making Argentinian fans proud! After a tricky race, Jacob Roulstone still managed to take 12th, and bring home a few points.
Grand Prix of The Netherlands
Starting from 10th, there was Valentin Perrone eager to try keeping the momentum from Mugello going. When lights were out, the young rookie jumped to 8th entering the first corners as he battled it out close with other riders, and he continued to gain more positions to exit lap 1 in 5th close in the back wheel of David Muñoz. Then he was up in 4th glued to Maximo Quiles, while Jose Antonio Rueda had taken the lead after 3 full laps. Positions changed a bit, but just like in Mugello, we did not see groups being formed right away, and 18 riders were less than one second from each other. After 7 laps, Valentin was in 8th, and then he moved to 7th. The fight at the front was going on, but Perrone remained in his position as he held it to the front guys with a solid and regular race pace. 10 laps had gone and the battle within the front group was still intense, although a small pack of 8 riders emerged. 15 laps done, and we started to see strategies appear. While Quiles still led, Valentin was in 7th, behind Taiyo Furusato, but positions kept changing. The young 'Coyote' fought his way through P5 with just 3 laps remaining, with overtakes going all over the place. Red Bull KTM Ajo's duo Carpe-Rueda was in 1-2, but the fight was not over. Quiles made a mistake and crashed, opening even more the chances for all riders at the front. Perrone entered lap 19 glued to Muñoz who was putting the effort to stick with the front 2. Then came the drama! A multiple rider-crash in the final chicane of lap 19 caused some chaos on track, but that also meant Valentin was now in 3rd entering the last lap! One lap to his maiden Moto3™ podium, let’s go Valentin! If the front 3 fought in the 20th lap as hell, the race ended up being race flagged due to the incident in the previous lap. Final results were based on standing as of lap 19, meaning our young rookie finished on the third step of the podium, his maiden Moto3™ podium! Huge congratulations to our Argentinian Coyote for an amazing race! It is the first of many, we hope!
Australian Jacob Roulstone was starting a bit far in 17th after a disappointing qualifying, but the pace had been positive all weekend, so the Aussie headed to the race super motivated and eager to catch back from the middle pack. At the race start, Jacob remained in his position, trying to stay alive in the busy traffic of the middle group, but after a few laps he settled properly into his race pace. In 5 laps, he was already in 11th thanks to an early second fast lap in 1’41.581 (fastest lap of lap 2), and he continued pushing hard, to clock his fastest race lap on lap 6 with a 1'40.924. Luca Lunetta was just 0.174 seconds ahead, so the Aussie focused on maintaining his race pace, however we saw him drop 15th after 10 laps, behind Scott Odgen. With 5 laps remaining, Jacob found himself in 16th, as he appeared to struggle going through the pack ahead of him. The lap 19’s incident helped him gain a few more positions, and he finished in 12th to eventually score a few points. Not the result expected for our Australian, but we know he will arrive at the next round in Germany even more hungry to achieve a strong result. We have a small week off track, before we head to the Sachsenring for the Grand Prix of Germany, on July 11-12-13! Dank je wel, Assen!
VALENTIN PERRONE: "I am feeling super happy and super proud! The race was really crazy from the start, I tried to push to stay around P7-P8, but seven laps to the end, I told myself that it would be difficult to be on the podium because I was not comfortable enough to overtake riders. But then, with 5 laps remaining, I changed my mentality, and I tried to fight harder, ride faster because I saw an opportunity. I was really happy to overtake Alvaro Carpe in the last chicane, and we finished in P3, my first Moto3 podium! I would like to thank everyone who has been with me within the last years, my team, and Hervé Poncharal. He believed in me, even if I had never been on a Moto3 before, so a huge thank you to him. It is only the beginning!"
JACOB ROULSTONE: "First, congratulations to Valentin and the team for the podium, they did an amazing job. It is a shame that it is not me, but I am happy for Valentin. I felt really good early in the race, but I think that we might have made the wrong tyre decision, and I started struggling to make the apex, and I was dropping quite a lot. It is frustrating, but we keep working!"
HERVE PONCHARAL, Team Principal: "It is an incredible feeling to see our young rookie Valentin Perrone on the podium for the 10th round of this championship. We have to remember that he switched directly from the ETC & Red Bull Rookies Cup to the World Moto3 championship, so he had never been on a Moto3 bike until the pre-season tests. The progress he has done in such a short time is phenomenal! I am so happy for him because I have a special bond with him. When I was watching him last season, he was very smart, aggressive and fast, so I told myself, why not give him the opportunity? He has shown great maturity since the start of the season, and the last rounds have been really strong. Today, he did an incredible race and this first podium, unexpected, is a dream come true for Valentin, his family and everyone who works close with him. I can imagine that the MotoGP community in Argentina will be proud. A big congratulations also to his team, led by Hector Testuri, they are doing a great job with Valentin. I feel sorry for Jacob Roulstone, because you always want your two riders to perform. He took a solid start, but lost ground at some point to finish in 12th. We know it is just a matter of time until Jacob is on the podium, so let's keep pushing, let's keep believing, and your time will come!"
RACE RESULTS
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 32'12.319
2. David Muñoz (SPA), Dynavolt Intact GP, +0.144
3. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.245
12. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +8.555
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 187pts
2. Alvaro Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 118pts
3. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, 117pts
13. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 51pts
18. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 24pts
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
