The Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Moto3™ squad was back in action on Saturday morning with much better weather conditions at the Automotodrom Brno. Indeed, the sky was finally blue and the track dry, setting perfectly the stage for the 12th qualifying shootout of the season. Valentin Perrone got himself a solid 6th position for what will be his first race in Czechia, and teammate Jacob Roulstone will start from 15th on Sunday as lights go out at 11:00 (UTC+2), for 16 laps.
Grand Prix of Czechia
Already qualified in Q2 following his solid top 5 in Friday’s Practice, rookie Valentin Perrone could enjoy the dry Free Practice 2 this morning to get ready for the qualifying later on in the day. The Argentinian showed good form in the tricky conditions of Friday, and it appeared that the dry suited the young 73 too. After the 14 laps of FP2, Valentin headed to Q2, starting with a first lap in 2’05.270 which provisionally sat him in 2nd as he returned to the garage for a quick pit stop. With just 3 minutes left, Valentin was back on track alongside many other riders, with just one shot at a fast lap. It was a busy group for just one lap, and Perrone could not improve his lap time. He was in third when he saw the checkered flag, but late improvements of 4 other riders saw him eventually finish in P7, just 0.251 seconds from pole sitter, Guido Pini. However, with David Muñoz having been handed a back of the grid penalty to serve in the race, Valentin will move up by one position, and start from 6th as he closes the second row! Solid qualifying once again for our Moto3™ rookie!
Having made it to Q2 on Friday despite a nasty highside in the wet Practice, Jacob Roulstone arrived on Saturday with one less thing to worry. However, Free Practice 2 did not quite go as planned, with the Australian forced to sit out for most of the session following a technical issue. He only had 7 laps to get the feeling on the dry. In Q2, Roulstone got his first lap cancelled because of a yellow flag, and the next one was cancelled for track limits exceeding, meaning he had still no time set with just 6 minutes left on the clock. For run 2, Jacob decided to go out on his own, as he was one of the 4 riders with no time set, less than 4 minutes to the end of the session. A late improvement to a 2’05.554 saw Jacob take the 16th time, but he will line up in 15th on the grid, with Muñoz starting from the back of the grid. The Aussie delivered a solid remontada last week at the Sachsenring, so there is no reason why he could not do it again on Sunday!
VALENTIN PERRONE: "Happy with our result! We got the 7th place but we will start in 6th for tomorrow's race, which is going to be interesting. I think that there will be a big group, so we will need to remain calm, be smart, and prepare for the last laps while trying to stick with the front group. I felt super comfortable today in qualifying, I did a great lap which had me in provisional 2nd at some point, but I could not improve. The times were all super close, but I am happy with P6! Let's enjoy the race!"
JACOB ROULSTONE: "It is a disappointing day. It was difficult for us to miss out on most of the track time in Free Practice 2, since we had an issue on the bike. So, it was not easy going to qualifying without feeling 100% ready. I was unlucky in my first flying lap with the yellow flag, and then in the second one I exceeded track limits because of another rider. Anyway, I thought it would be better to just go on my own for run 2, to at least try to make laps. I could have waited like everyone, but it was the safest option to go on our own, and set a lap time since we did not have any."
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. Guido Pini (ITA), Dynavolt Intact GP, 2'05.019
2. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0.026
3. David Muñoz (SPA), Dynavolt Intact GP, +0.038
7. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.251
16. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.535
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - G. Pini (ITA) - 2'05.019 - 155.5 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2014 - R. Fenati (ITA) - 2'08.064 - 151.8 km/h
Best Pole: 2025 - G. Pini (ITA) - 2'05.019 - 155.5 km/h
Top Speed: 2025 - D. Almansa (SPA) - 231.2 km/h
