It was a big day for rookie Valentin Perrone starting from the pole position for the first time in Moto3™ today after an outstanding weekend at the BWIN Grand Prix of Austria. The young Argentinian did an incredible race fighting for the win all race through, but the last corner of the Red Bull Ring was tricky to us, and Valentin eventually crossed the finish line in 7th. Jacob Roulstone finished in P14, with two points.
Grand Prix of Austria
Could the young Argentinian Valentin Perrone take his maiden win in Moto3™? Everything is possible in that lightweight category, and our Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider was for sure not going to let his chance go. Lights were out at 11am, and Angel Piqueras got the better of Perrone at the start, with Valentin arriving at T1 in second, followed closely by Maximo Quiles. After two laps, Quiles had provided the extra effort to take the lead, while Ryusei Yamanaka had joined the top 3 in 2nd. Perrone settled in third behind these two, closely followed by Piqueras as a clear front 4 had already formed. After 10 laps, the front four was clearly leading, with a gap of 1.5 seconds on the chasing group led by Adrian Fernandez. Perrone closed the group in 4th, closely following the trio Quiles-Piqueras-Yamanaka. A small mistake of Quiles at the braking in lap 13 opened the path to 3rd for Valentin, with just 7 laps to go. Quiles quickly regained the top, but Valentin Perrone got into the fight for the first place as just 4 laps remained. He led the race entering lap 17/20. 3 laps to go! Behind him, the 3 were fighting for the podium, and it gave a bit of breath to Valentin at the front, still at the lead with two laps to go. A hectic final lap was on the cook… Unfortunately, Valentin got pushed aside in the battle of the two last corners of lap 19, and he dropped to 7th with just one lap to go, and so did Quiles. Angel Piqueras was now at the lead, while David Munoz and Taiyo Furusato were on the provisional podium. Valentin eventually crossed the line in 7th, while Piqueras won, and Yamanaka and Munoz completed the podium. Such two unfortunate last laps for our rookie, who did a fantastic job all race through! We’ll try again next time!
Jacob Roulstone remained in 12th as the lights were out at 11am. The Australian made the effort to stay with the front group in the early pace, and as he held on to Jose Antonio Rueda with similar lap times to the championship leader. After ten laps, Jacob remained in his 12th position, now behind Joel Keslo with Rueda having gained positions at the front. He lost a position to Alvaro Carpe on lap 13 to go down to 13th, and then he lost the battle to David Almansa to P14, a position he remained in until the checkered flag. Not the result wanted for our Australian, however he showed competitive pace today, and he’ll look to bring the positive to the next round, as we are now heading to the new Balaton Park Circuit for the newest addition to the calendar, the Hungarian Grand Prix, next week!
VALENTIN PERRONE: "I am very happy about my race, but of course not the result. I think that our race was perfect, until the last two laps. I tried to prepare the final laps as much as I could, to be in P1 or P2, but then Piqueras overtook me in the last corner of lap 19, and when I closed to go back to the good line, I was pushed by two other riders, so I could not do a lot. I made mistakes in the last lap because I was going crazy. P7 is not the reward we wanted looking at the feeling we've had all weekend, but we know our pace is there, we know we can fight for the victory, so let's continue working like that!"
JACOB ROULSTONE: "I knew coming into this weekend that it would be challenging because Austria is one of my hardest tracks. We turned things around decently this weekend, and I am quite happy with the race and the pace. It was positive for us considering it’s a hard track for me, so I look forward to going to Balaton and continuing working! Thank you to my team for all the work."
HERVE PONCHARAL, Team Principal: "The end to this Austrian Grand Prix is, of course, disappointing for Valentin Perrone who was starting from the pole position and fought all race for the win in the top 4. That group had made a good gap on the leading group, and we thought it would stay until the end like this, but unfortunately they were caught within the two last laps. We entered lap 19 leading the race, knowing the fight would be tough. Valentin was touched hard on the inside of the last corner before the final lap, and there was nothing he could do. He dropped many positions, to reach the finish line in P7. Valentin is very sad and disappointed, but he had an incredible weekend, he was amongst the fastest on Friday, Saturday and today. It did not pay off today, but it will next time, let’s take the positives. Congratulations for an incredible weekend! Jacob Roulstone did not have an ideal starting position, but he never gave up, he had some good fights. P14 is not what he wanted, but he ended up very close to the front, he had the fastest race lap at some stage, so he is there. We just need to qualify better, and then everything will come naturally. We have a few days to rest, and we will head to Hungary for a new chapter of our Moto3 adventure!"
RACE RESULTS
1. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets-MSI, 33'36.516
2. Ryusei Yamanaka (JPN), MT Helmets-MSI, +0.096
3. David Muñoz (SPA), Dynavolt IntactGP, +0.171
7. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.851
14. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +5.331
RACE RESULTS
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 239pts
2. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, 168pts
3. David Muñoz (SPA), Dynavolt IntactGP, 139pts
12. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 72pts
18. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 36pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - M. Quiles (SPA) - 1'39.639 - 157.0 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2025 - T. Furusato (JPN) - 1'40.048 - 156.4 km/h
Best Pole: 2025 - V. Perrone (ARG) - 1'39.938 - 156.6 km/h
Top Speed: 2025 - D. Foggia (ITA) - 225.0 km/h
