Starting from today, Valentin Perrone was the sole captain of the Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ team on Saturday at the Malaysian Grand Prix, with Jacob Roulstone having been ruled out of the remainder of the weekend following a left-hand fracture sustained during Friday’s Practice. It is a very unfortunate end to his fly away tour for the Australian, who will be heading home earlier than scheduled to get treatment, in the hope to be able to join the team again either in Portugal or Valencia. Meanwhile, Valentin Perrone did a solid job, as he qualified in 7th on the grid, coming all the way from Q1.
Grand Prix of Malaysia
Day one was far from easy for rookie Valentin Perrone who failed to qualify directly to the coveted Q2 session. However, the feeling was positive overall, and the young ‘Coyote’ was ready to give his all on Saturday to fly the Red Bull KTM Tech3 flag high at the Sepang International Circuit. A positive opening FP2 this morning during which he took the 11th time gave him the confidence to head to Q1 and show his true potential. In Q1, Valentin began the session with a solid lap in 2’11.703, one that powered him within the top 4, and that he could not match again during the next run. Luckily, that lap was good enough to make the cut, and Valentin headed to Q2 with the 3rd fastest time. As he joined the final qualifying shootout, Valentin found the pace to take it to a 2’10.217, a lap that will see him start the Malaysian Grand Prix from P7, as he will lead Maximo Quiles and Angel Piqueras on row 3, when lights of the Moto3™ race go out at 12:00 (UTC+8) for 15 laps.
VALENTIN PERRONE: "We felt super good on the bike today! FP2 gave us confidence this morning, we had a good pace, and we felt stronger. In Q1, I struggled a bit to do a good lap, because it is always super difficult to catch a group as nobody wants to push, but anyway, we managed to make it to Q2, which is great. In Q2, I managed to be behind a good group, and I think that my lap was almost perfect, even if I lost a bit of time at T9. I am really happy with our starting position, it is going to be a crazy race, but it will be fun! Thank you to the team for their work!"
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. David Almansa (SPA), Leopard Racing, 2'09.846
2. Taiyo Furusato (JPN), Honda Team Asia, +0.094
3. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0.230
7. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.451
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - A. Fernandez (SPA) - 2'09.542 - 154.0 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - D. Alonso (COL) - 2'11.047 - 152.2 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - A. Fernandez (SPA) - 2'09.542 - 154.0 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - R. Yamanaka (JPN) - 235.2 km/h
