The overseas tour is officially underway with the Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ having kicked off round 17 of 22 at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan on Friday at the Motegi Mobility Resort track. Valentin Perrone did the job on day 1 as the Argentinean ended Practice with the 6th time to directly qualify for Q2, while teammate Jacob Roulstone came a bit short in 16th, as he will face Q1 on Saturday morning.
Grand Prix of Japan
Rookie Valentin Perrone made his debuts on the Japanese layout on Friday morning, and the young ‘Coyote’ continued to showcase his fast-learner skill. He was in P11 after the opening Free Practice 1 this morning (just 1 second from the fastest), before returning to the track in Practice later in the afternoon. Valentin’s effort increased in intensity, and a lap 1'55.748 saw him take the 6th time of the day, to head straight to Q2, while David Munoz (1’55.234) led charges on the opening day at Motegi.
Jacob Roulstone was thrilled to get the flyaways started as the championship headed to ‘his side of the world’, with his home GP in Australia just around the corner in three weeks. Getting the feeling right was a bit tricky in FP1 for Jacob, who ended the session with the 20th time. The afternoon turned out to be better for the Australian, as we could witness improvements, but he came a bit short of the top 14, to finish with the 16th time of the day, 0.146 from the Q2 spots. The Aussie will have a few things to work out tonight with his team as he aims to improve the feeling on the bike for Saturday. The squad will be back on track at 8:40 LT (UTC+9) with Free Practice 2, and then qualifying will begin at 12:45, with Jacob in Q1, and Valentin in Q2 at 13:10.
VALENTIN PERRONE: "In the first free practice, I tried to learn the track as fast as possible to try to get up to speed with the other riders, and the feeling was really positive for us. In Practice, I followed Rueda, because he had been super fast in FP1 and I want to learn from him. Then I tried to catch a group, made some really good laps to be in Q2 tomorrow. I am super happy with our first day, the bike is perfect, the feeling is positive, I like the track, so let’s get ready for more tomorrow."
JACOB ROULSTONE: "Challenging first day for me here in Japan! We weren’t feeling at our top form this morning after a tough night of sleep, but we gave all we had today on track. In Practice, I was feeling better, but it was a bit tricky, I kept being held up as always. We still have some work to do, the team and I are working really hard, and I believe that I can have a good day tomorrow."
PRACTICE SESSION RESULTS
1. David Muñoz (SPA), Dynavolt Intact GP, 1'55.234
2. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0.168
3. Ryusei Yamanaka (JPN), FRINSA - MT Helmets - MSI, +0.356
6. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.514
16. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.009
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - I. Ortola (SPA) - 1'54.761 - 150.6 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - D. Alonso (COL) - 1'55.675 - 149.4 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - I. Ortola (SPA) - 1'54.761 - 150.6 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - I. Ortola (SPA) - 224.5 km/h
