That’s a wrap for the German Grand Prix for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ squad! Luckily, there was no sign of rain at the Sachsenring on Sunday for the Moto3™ race, setting better race conditions than Saturday for the lightweight class. Jacob Roulstone delivered a solid performance as he took the 8th place at the checkered flag from P18 on the grid. Valentin Perrone grabbed points too with a 12th place.
Grand Prix of Germany
Starting from P18 after a tricky qualifying in the wet, Jacob Roulstone dropped to P20 in the first corners, but he fought back to P17 behind teammate Perrone. One more position was gained in the following lap to 16th. An onfire Jacob then clocked in the fastest lap of lap 3 with a hot 1’26.598 meaning that he could gain a few more positions to 14th, close in the back wheel of Adrian Fernandez. The Australian continued to hold a solid pace, with similar lap times to the front, which allowed him to progressively approach the top 10, until lap 7, when he overcame Buchanan to P10. After 10 laps, Jacob sat in P9, still holding it close behind Joel Kelso and in the front group, now led by Ryusei Yamanaka. A small loss of rhythm eventually saw Jacob drop to P11 after 15 laps, while Alvaro Carpe had already made a comeback following his long lap penalty, but Jacob did not give up and continued to push to regain 3 positions to 12h with 6 laps to go. A mistake of Yamanaka and Ogden at the front gave Jacob the 8th place 4 laps to the checkered flag, a position he eventually kept until the checkered flag. Solid result from our Australian who gave us a good remontada from 18th to 8th with a very competitive pace all race through. That will give him a good boost of confidence heading to Brno next week.
Lining up in 15th on the grid, Valentin Perrone lost one position to P16 in the first sector as lights went out for 23 laps at 11:00 local time, and he exited lap one battling out for 15th against Joel Kelso. At the front, David Muñoz was leading with pole sitter Scott Ogden close behind. After 5 laps, Valentin Perrone was still in P15 just behind teammate Roulstone. Comfortably placed behind the number 12, our rookie took advantage of his pace to gain positions alongside Roulstone. After 8 laps, Valentin and his teammate were completely in the front group, and we even saw Valentin take the advantage on Jacob for a few corners. After 10 laps, things had smoothed a bit more, with the number 73 cooling it down in 12th behind David Almansa. After 15 laps, Valentin was in 14th 0.536 seconds ahead of Uriarte. The young rookie held it, but somehow did not have more to give for today, and he settled with a 12th position. This is still a good result for our rookie, for whom it was the first time at the Sachsenring. We aren’t done yet, since the squad will now head to Brno for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic on July 18-20, the last round before the summer break!
JACOB ROULSTONE: "I felt quite strong today, which is good. I tried to control the tires to save them a bit for the end, but I was not able to do that very well unfortunately. Other than that, we felt good, we could pass riders aggressively and we could hold the pace with the front group, which I am happy with. I think it is one of my closest finishes to the winner of the year, which is a good step for us. Good race for self-confidence after a few difficult rounds, so a lot of positives to head to Brno, which I am excited about! Huge thanks to the team for the work this weekend, yesterday was not easy at all, but I feel privileged to have them by my side, so thank you to all of them."
VALENTIN PERRONE: "At the beginning, I tried to push to overtake as many riders as I could, and I landed within the front group. But then I struggled quite a lot to follow them, and I was going wide all the time. After 12 laps more or less, I was alone, trying to save the tires but they were already destroyed, and I was sliding a lot. The riders behind caught me, I fought until the end, but it was difficult. We finished 12th, which is not the result we want, but it is part of the learning! We will keep fighting in Brno."
HERVE PONCHARAL, Team Principal: "Great race for Jacob Roulstone! Starting from 18th with almost no dry track time was not going to be easy, but together with his crew, Jacob made the right decisions on the grid. He rode a solid early pace, setting the fastest lap on lap 3 which ended up being the 3rd fastest of the race, which allowed him to catch the front group. Until the very end, he was inside that group, in a position to fight for an eventual podium, to finish in 8th, less than one second to the winner, which is the most important and shows that he was competitive. I am happy for him because the season has not been easy for him. His injury in winter was a huge step back, and he has had some bad luck, so it is good to see him back at the front, it will give him a big boost of confidence. On the other hand, I can understand that Valentin Perrone is disappointed with P12 after taking his maiden Moto3 podium in Assen, but he is in his rookie season, and he is learning. He did a strong race as he was with the front group the first half of the race on a track where he was riding for the first time, so we are happy. He is becoming more and more a Moto3 rider round after round, and I am sure that if the conditions are better in Brno next week, he can have another strong weekend before the break. So thanks to everyone in the team, and let's head to the Czech Republic!"
RACE RESULTS
1. David Muñoz (SPA) Dynavolt Intact GP, 33'27.081
2. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Aspar Team, +0.241
3. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0.250
8. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.893
12. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +9.484
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 203pts
2. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, 130pts
3. Alvaro Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 129pts
13. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 55pts
18. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 32pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - D. Muñoz (SPA)- 1'24.767 - 155.9 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - I. Ortola (SPA) - 1'25.467 - 154.6 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - C. Veijer (NED) - 1'24.885 - 155.6 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - X. Zurutuza (SPA) - 219.9 km/h
