Valentin Perrone from Red Bull KTM Tech3 secured a solid top 10 result at the Grand Prix of Malaysia on Sunday under extremely hot and humid conditions. The Moto3™ race start saw a delay of 1h45 at the Sepang International Circuit, following a crash in the sighting lap between two riders, to whom we are sending all our thoughts.
Grand Prix of Malaysia
Initially qualified in 7th on the grid, Valentin Perrone was due to advance by one position to 6th on the grid following a grid penalty assigned to Brian Uriarte, and he moved further up to 5th at the race start, with Rueda sadly missing from the front row. It was lights out at 13:45 local time in Malaysia with just 10 laps instead of 15 for the Moto3™ class, and Valentin Perrone kept his line from 5th to enter T1 on the inside of Maximo Quiles, but the Aspar rider answered back in T2, and Valentin retained his 7th place after the first sector. The young ‘Coyote’ lost two positions in the final sector to Ryusei Yamanaka and Guido Pini to exit lap 1 in 9th, but he lost one more position entering lap 2, to drop to 10th, behind Luca Lunetta. At the front, Taiyo Furusato had won the battle at the start over pole man David Almansa in 2nd, and Angel Piqueras in 3rd. After 3 laps, we had a big group of 11 riders all battling out for the race lead, but Valentin Perrone remained cautious, watching closely from behind everyone’s moves. As he set into his pace, the Argentinean moved past Yamanaka to 9th, followed by local Danish, and then to 8th on lap 4 to sit behind Alvaro Carpe. However, Valentin lost two positions entering lap 5, and two more in the second sector, as he had now dropped to 12th. The young Coyote was not letting go though, and he provided the extra effort to regain positions. He was 10th halfway through, with a gap of 0.2 seconds from Scott Ogden ahead, and Carpe close behind. With two laps to go, Carpe had taken back the lead on Perrone, with the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider having also dropped an extra position to Joel Kelso, so he sat in 12th as the big group had now completely split. Furusato was still leading the way, on his way to his maiden Moto3™ win. Guido Pini’s late crash earned Valentin one more position, and one more was gained in the final turns, to cross the finish line in 10th! Solid result for the rookie despite the extremely tough track conditions, a good way to end a tricky overseas tour for Valentin.
That’s all for the fly away tour, we will now pack everything as we head back to Europe for the two final rounds of the season, with next on the Grand Prix of Portugal, on November 7-8-9.
VALENTIN PERRONE: "Tricky race, it was incredibly hot! I tried my best, but I felt on the limit at every lap, so close to crashing at every corner because the track was so hot! Overtaking riders was a struggle too, as I could not stop the bike since we had no grip, but anyway, we made it through. We will re-watch the race, and learn from it. The feeling on the bike was good this weekend, although we struggled a bit more in the race, but anyway, we continue to learn!"
RACE RESULTS
1. Taiyo Furusato (JPN), Honda Team Asia, 22'03.888
2. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, +2.259
3. Adrian Fernandez (SPA), Leopard Racing, +2.625
10. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +6.309
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 365pts
2. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets - MSI, 251pts
3. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Aspar Team, 237pts
10. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 127pts
15. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 61pts
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: 2025 - T. Furusato (JPN) - 235.8 km/h
