The adventure in Lombok ends on a positive note for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ squad, with Australian Jacob Roulstone getting his best career result in the lightweight class with his first top 5 on Sunday at the Mandalika track. It is a much needed result for the Aussie, before heading to his home round in two weeks. Valentin Perrone was forced to sit out the Indonesian Grand Prix, following his crash in Practice, and we will see him again in Australia in two weeks.
Grand Prix of Indonesia
As he lined up in P13 on the grid under a scorching sun on the island, Jacob Roulstone took a solid start as lights were out at 12:00 (UTC+8). He earned one spot to sit behind Guido Pini as Joel Keslo took the lead, ahead of David Munoz and Maximo Quiles. Jacob progressed to 9th in the third sector with incisive overtakes to exit lap 1 in the back wheel of Taiyo Furusato. One more position was gained in lap 2 to 8th for Jacob, to lead his group, 0.3 seconds from Munoz ahead, as the Spaniard had dropped from the front 3. A solid early pace allowed Jacob to close soon enough the gap to his rivals, while Kelso crashed in lap 4 while at the front. That meant P7 for Roulstone entering lap 5, but Jose Antonio Rueda and Angel Piqueras were boiling hot behind, waiting for the opportunity to make their moves. These two eventually went through on lap 6, and Jacob was back in 9th. However, he held the pace to keep contact with Piqueras, and that gave him the confidence to lap a solid 1’37.329 on lap 7, which ended up being the second fastest race lap. A small mistake from the #12 then saw Luca Lunetta go through both Roulstone and Piqueras, and that was P10 for Jacob after 10 laps, but the battle for 9th was intense against the Spaniard. We were halfway through the race then, and pole sitter Adrian Fernandez led charges, just ahead of Rueda, provisionally world champion at the time, with Piqueras in 9th. The battle for 9th kept going for a few laps, until a multi-rider crash in the last sector of lap 14 redistributed the cards, and Jacob was now up to 8th, 6 laps to the end. The battles at the front were spicy, which allowed Jacob to catch back a bit as he fought against his used tires. Quiles and Piqueras were handed long lap penalties for short cuts, and Piqueras completing his own allowed Jacob to earn one more spot. Finally, David Munoz’ big crash ahead had Jacob in 6th with two laps to go, but the red flag was instantly waved, calling it an early end for the Moto3™ race! Additional penalties post-race gave Jacob the 5th place, his best result in the class, so congratulations to him!
As we will now pack everything up and head to Phillip Island in two weeks for the Grand Prix of Australia, the whole Red Bull KTM Tech3 team would like to congratulate the new Moto3™ World Champion, Jose Antonio Rueda, and his team, Red Bull KTM Ajo, for a successful 2025 campaign!
JACOB ROULSTONE: "Very pleased with my race! I think I did the best first few laps of my career, and I am very happy with our start. I struggled a bit from mid-race with the front tire because I attacked a lot at the start, so maybe I cooked it a bit too much. Messy race, the hottest and most challenging one, but I am really happy, and relieved to score a top 5. This result means a lot for us, because we want to show that we still deserve to be in that paddock. Thanks to the boys for their hard work, and we are now heading to my own round in Australia, which I am super excited about. We will go for it again, so I can’t wait!"
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "It was an eventful weekend for our Moto3 squad in Indonesia, with Valentin Perrone unfortunately forced to sideline following his heavy crash from Friday’s Practice, so he did not participate in both Saturday and Sunday action. He will have ten days to rest, before we see him again in Phillip Island. On the other hand, we are so happy for Jacob Roulstone, who scored his best career result in the category with a top 5. He was competitive all weekend, qualifying in 13th coming all the way from Q1. The plan was clear for today, make a good start, be as aggressive as possible in the first laps to overtake as many riders as possible, and then keep up with the front group, and he did all of this today, to end with a P5. Congratulations to him on a solid weekend, we are happy for him, and it is the best way to head to his home race in two weeks in Australia!"
RACE RESULTS
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 29'28.292
2. Luca Lunetta (ITA), SIC58 Squadra Corse, +0.305
3. Guido Pini (ITA), Dynavolt Intact GP, +0.388
5. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +4.978
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 340pts
2. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, 231pts
3. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Aspar Team, 217pts
9. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 121pts
15. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 61pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - A. Fernandez (SPA) - 1'37.022 - 159.5 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2025 - J. Rueda (SPA) - 137.255 - 159.2 km/h
Best Pole: 2025 - A. Fernandez (SPA) - 1'37.022 - 159.5 km/h
Top Speed: 2025 - T. Furusato (JPN) - 225.4 Km/h
