Qualifying day was around the corner for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 Moto3™ squad on Saturday at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, and the sun was finally at the 'rendez-vous' all day for everyone's biggest pleasure. Coming all the way from Q1 which he topped, Joel Esteban, replacing Jacob Roulstone, did a solid job as he qualified in 6th on the grid ahead of Sunday's race, his best qualifying result in the world championship. Teammate Valentin Perrone won't be too far on the grid, as we will see the Argentinian start the Portuguese Grand Prix from P10.
Grand Prix of Portugal
Valentin Perrone had one less worry arriving on Saturday, as the Argentinian was already qualified in Q2 after his 10th position in the Practice session. The conditions of FP2 this morning were not worth the risk taking, and Valentin only completed 4 laps this morning, before joining Q2 later in the day. The young rookie began with a 1'47.231, and he provisionally sat in 5th at the pitstop, 0.187 seconds from Maximo Quiles, leading charges. No further improvements were made when he rejoined the track for run 2 after he made a small mistake while attacking. He dropped to P10, his earlier lap remaining his best. That’s P10 on the grid for Perrone, as he will open row 4, alongside Taiyo Furusato and Alvaro Carpe.
Joel Esteban arrived on Saturday eager to make further improvements with the squad. The feeling and the pace were good on Friday, but the young Spaniard could not put everything together to make a good enough lap in the tricky track conditions, and he faced Q1. The early track conditions at 8:40 local time this morning offered a tricky layout, with some parts still drying from the night humidity, and not many riders rode the entire session. Joel just rode 3 laps, before heading back on track in better conditions for Q1 at lunch time. In Q1, the Spaniard brilliantly topped the timesheets with a late 1’47.679, as he led Marco Morelli, Stefano Nepa and Guido Pini into Q2. Jacob Roulstone’s substitute did a solid job in the final qualifying session, when he gave his all in the final flying lap to clock an impressive 1’47.067, which will see him start the Grand Prix of Portugal from 6th on the grid, as lights of the Moto3™ race will exceptionally go out at 14:30 local time (UTC), for 19 laps.
VALENTIN PERRONE: "It was not the qualifying we were expecting. This morning, the track was bad so we did just a few laps, but still I felt good in qualifying. I think that we had the pace to fight for the pole, but I made a mistake unfortunately, and then it was difficult to try going out again with a group. Anyway, P10 is not bad, we have the speed to fight with the front group tomorrow, and I feel confident to overtake riders, so let's focus on tomorrow and try to do a very good result."
JOEL ESTEBAN: "We only did very few laps in FP2 this morning to get a feeling on the bike, because the conditions were not great. I had a great feeling in Q1, so I was really happy to do that lap to move to Q2. Then, we changed something on the bike's setting to try to improve more, and we did it! Second row is my best qualifying result in the world championship, so I am really happy! We are ready to fight tomorrow, I am super excited to race!"
QUALIFIYNG RESULTS
1. Joel Kelso (AUS), LEVELUP-MTA, 1'46.764
2. Scott Ogden (GBR), CIP Green Power, +0.069
3. Angel Piqueras (SPA), MT Helmets-MSI, +0.163
6. Joel Esteban (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.303
10. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.467
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - J. Rueda (SPA) - 1'46.379 - 155.3 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - D. Alonso (COL) - 1'46.985 - 154.5 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - J. Rueda (SPA) - 1'46.379 - 155.3 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - I. Ortola (SPA) - 251.7 km/h
