The Moto3™ squad kicked off round 18 'alreaaaaady' as the championship settled in Lombok island this week, for the Grand Prix of Indonesia. It was a rather rough start to the weekend for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 squad, with rookie Valentin Perrone suffering a nasty high-side crash during the afternoon's Practice. The young rider was taken to the local hospital for further examination, and luckily, nothing major was detected, putting aside the pain from a heavy impact. Valentin will rest well tonight, and he will have to undergo a medical check on Saturday morning before Free Practice 2. On the other side, Jacob Roulstone narrowly missed out on a direct Q2 with the 15th position in Friday's Practice, but the Australian showed encouraging pace heading to qualifying day.
Grand Prix of Indonesia
Arriving at a better suited track for his own riding style, Jacob Roulstone from Australia was excited to get things started at Lombok island, before it is time for his very own home round in just two weeks Down Under. In the morning’s first free practice, Jacob focused mainly on his riding style to get the feeling on the Mandalika track, and it was a decent session, ending with the 16th time (1’39.133, +1.488). Later in the afternoon, a boiling hot and humid Practice session awaited the lightweight class, with a track at 58° and 69% of humidity. Roulstone ended the session with a late improvement in 1’38.490, but unfortunately, that was just a bit short of the top 14, as the number 12 finished in P15, just 0.113 seconds from the direct Q2 tickets. A bit of work needed from his side together with his team this evening, to try getting that little something missing to make it to Q2, and hopefully qualify well for the Indonesian Grand Prix.
Valentin Perrone was also eager to get going with new track discoveries, with the Mandalika layout yet to be learned by the young Argentinian rookie. The feeling was quite positive for Valentin during the opening session, as he took the 12th time with a best lap in 1’38.887, a bit more than a second from early pace setter David Munoz. Unfortunately, the young ‘Coyote’ suffered a nasty high-side during the afternoon’s Practice session. Valentin was taken to the local hospital for further examination after a first inspection at the medical center. Luckily, nothing broken for our young Coyote, who luckily came out of this with 'just' some aches and pain. A much needed good night of sleep awaits Perrone, who will have to undergo a medical check tomorrow morning, before being able to rejoin the action, with Free Practice 2 kicking off Super Saturday in Mandalika at 8:40 (UTC+8).
JACOB ROULSTONE: "A bit of a hectic first day here in Lombok! I focused on my riding style in the first session to work on some things that I improved in Japan. Then this afternoon was a wild session. I struggled a bit in the first run, because I wasn’t in the correct position when exiting, so it was difficult to put all together a decent lap time, aligned with the wind. I was a bit confused with some lap times cancelled also, but anyway, we still have some work to do still. We are again struggling to find the right set up, which is letting us down, but hopefully we will have what we need tomorrow morning."
PRACTICE SESSION RESULTS
1. Angel Piqueras (SPA), FRINSA - MT Helmets - MSI, 1'37.503
2. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Aspar Team, +0.098
3. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0.113
17. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.987
19. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.155
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - I. Ortola (SPA) - 1'37.332 - 159.0 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - D. Holgado (SPA) - 137.936 - 158.0 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - I. Ortola (SPA) - 1'37.332 - 159.0 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - J. Rueda (SPA) - 224.5 Km/h
