The Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ squad excelled on Saturday during the qualifying of the Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera, with Valentin Perrone taking the second pole position of his young career at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. It will be a rare non-European front row, with the young Argentinian followed by two Australians, Joel Kelso in 2nd, and teammate Jacob Roulstone in 3rd, as the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider made it to Saturday’s Parc Fermé for the first time in the category!
Grand Prix of San Marino and The Rimini Riviera
Already qualified in Q2, it was one thing less to worry for rookie Valentin Perrone as he used the final Free Practice this morning to fine tune his package, and get all ready to go for the afternoon’s shootout. The war was tough, but he conquered! In a tense atmosphere, Valentin Perrone began Q2 with a first lap in 1’40.667, which saw him take the provisional lead of the session. He stayed on track a bit longer than the rest, before he eventually returned to his team. As he was down to 3rd at the start of run 2 with just 5 minutes left, the final battle began. The Argentinian then clocked in an excellent lap in 1'40.328 to clinch the pole position in Misano, the second of his young Moto3™ career! Well done to our ‘Coyote’, who will give it all on track on Sunday as he targets a maiden Moto3™ win.
Hard work pays off! It was a happy day for Australian Jacob Roulstone, as the young number 12 will start a Moto3™ race from the first row for the first time of his career, after Jacob clinched the 3rd spot in Parc Fermé, behind fellow Aussie Joel Kelso. Since the start of the weekend, Jacob’s feeling on the bike had been really positive, and he continued to build confidence in the morning’s FP2 with an encouraging race pace. In Q2, Jacob began with a very good lap in 1’40.807 to sit in a provisional 3rd place as he headed back to the pitlane. In the same group as his teammate Perrone, the Australian continued to push to eventually put it all together, with a last lap in 1'40.420 to take the 3rd fastest time! Congratulations to Jacob for his best qualifying result in the category, and we know he will throw it all on Sunday, with lights going out at 11am for 20 laps!
VALENTIN PERRONE: "I have been feeling super good with the bike today! I don’t think that I was the fastest on track, but I tried to be the smartest, because I knew that this qualifying would be a big group. I focused on myself and the feeling we had, and it paid off, so I am very happy. It will be important to take a good start tomorrow, many of us are really fast, so we will try to lead the first corners, and hopefully be in the front group to fight for the win. We expect tough battles, but we will do everything to fight for our first victory. I love this track, I keep saying it, but I am excited for tomorrow’s race, let’s have fun and race smart!"
JACOB ROULSTONE: "I am so pleased with today, especially after Barcelona. We left all our feelings at home and we arrived here with a fresh mind. Yesterday I felt strong, with a solid pace, and today I could put it all together! We still have a few things to solve, but this is my first front row start, and it is very special because we are having a tricky year! Anyway, we will give our everything in the race, we feel really strong with our bike set up and the pace, so the goal is to be at the front, and fight for the win! We need a good result, this is our biggest chance, so we will go for it!"
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 1'40.328
2. Joel Kelso (AUS), LEVELUP - MTA, +0.025
3. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.092
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - D. Alonso (COL) - 1'40.184 - 151.8 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - C. Viejer (NED) - 1'40.629 - 151.1 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - D. Alonso (COL) - 1'40.184 - 151.8 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - T. Suzuki (JPN) - 215.1 km/h
