A few days after a busy race weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix, the Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ squad travelled for the first time to Hungary to the new Balaton Park Circuit for the Michelin® Grand Prix of Hungary, the newest addition to the calendar. Cards were redistributed for the weekend, with all riders riding on this track for the first time. Valentin Perrone and Jacob Roulstone enjoyed the first sensations on the Hungarian layout, after both directly qualifying to Q2 on Friday.
Grand Prix of Hungary
Fresh from his impressive weekend in Austria during which he took his maiden pole position in the category, Valentin Perrone stood up as one to watch this week in Hungary. As he discovered the 17 corners of the Balaton Park circuit, the young Argentinian took the 7th time of the opening session this morning, after clocking a best lap in 1'47.994 out of his 19 laps. The sun was out but the wind had picked up by the afternoon when it was time to return on track for Practice, Valentin’s feeling continued to improve. If he remained in the provisional Q2 spots all session, the young ‘Coyote’ provided an extra effort in the last 5 minutes of the session to provisional fly at the top of the timesheets with a 1'46.745, beaten shortly after by Maximo Quiles. Perrone eventually took 2nd of the day, heading straight to Q2 on his first day in Hungary.
Australian Jacob Roulstone’s feeling was good too on Friday as he also grabbed a Q2 spot at the end of play of Practice. His first laps in Balaton allowed him to learn the track and understand its challenges, and the Aussie sat in P16 after FP1, 1.7 seconds off the fastest of the morning. After working out some improvements, the feeling got better for our Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider, who remained in the provisional top 14 all Practice this afternoon. A late effort into the final minutes saw him improve his fastest lap to a 1'47.287, to finish in P9 and qualify to Q2 alongside his teammate. Job done for both Red Bull KTM Tech3 boys, who will be back on track on Saturday morning at 8:40 LT, before Q2 at 13:10!
VALENTIN PERRONE: "I am feeling super well on the bike, and I am loving this track! In FP1, we learned the layout, we tested the grip and we rode at our own pace. Everything felt right, so we knew we could push a bit more in Practice. We had a small issue in the session, but once we fixed it, we could do an amazing lap. Maximo (Quiles) beat me and I was super impressed by his lap time, but we know we have a good pace, we are feeling really well here, and we have potential to qualify well."
JACOB ROULSTONE: "Balaton is quite a cool track, I enjoyed our first day riding here! I am happy to finish in the top 10. The first session this morning was a bit messy, but in the afternoon our feeling was better, and we could work better. We have a few things to twist to be able to string a good lap together, but I am feeling good and confident, so let’s continue working that way tomorrow."
PRACTICE SESSION RESULTS
1. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team, 1'46.448
2. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.297
3. Guido Pini (ITA), Dynavolt Intact GP, +0.408
9. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.839
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - M. Quiles (SPA) - 1'46.448 - 137.8 km/h
Best Race Lap: New Track
Best Pole: New Track
Top Speed: 2025 - M. Uriarte (SPA) - 216.0 km/h
