Valentín Perrone showed just why he is regarded as one of international motorcycle racing’s brightest rising stars by producing a spirited performance for Red Bull KTM Tech3 in round four of the 2026 Moto3™ World Championship in southern Spain this weekend.
Grand Prix of Spain
Having struggled in qualifying, the 18-year-old immediately made an impact in the race around the physical and tortuous Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto, scything his way from 12th up to fourth. While ill-fortune subsequently dropped him down the order again, Perrone was in no mood to lie down without a fight as he scrapped doggedly back through to seventh.
Stablemate Rico Salmela similarly showcased his speed by duelling with the category’s most recent race-winner in only his fourth Moto3 start, going on to add to his points tally with a 15th-place finish.
Practice
After logging 33 laps between them in FP1 on Friday – focusing on trying out development parts rather than chasing quick times – Perrone and Salmela headed into the official Practice session targeting a top 14 spot, to enable them to bypass the initial Q1 stage of qualifying.
The Argentine wound up third in a closely-contested session – comfortably enough to maintain his 100 per cent record in 2026 of advancing directly to Q2, and he was joined there by Salmela. The Finn found himself relegated to 23rd and last position with just five minutes left on the clock, but showed tremendous strength of character to vault up to 12th in the final reckoning, marking his third straight progression to Q2 in his rookie campaign.
Qualifying
Morning rain left riders facing a damp track surface in FP2, and following the installation of a replacement engine overnight, Perrone wisely elected to play it safe as he limited his running to a few laps later on in the session.
Q2 took place on an almost fully dry circuit, but the change in weather and unpredictable grip levels meant both riders struggled to find the perfect set-up. That left Perrone – a front row starter in both Brazil and the USA – a frustrated 12th on the 26-strong grid, with Salmela six spots further back in 18th.
Race
In warm and sunny conditions, Perrone went immediately on the attack in the 19-lap race. A typically fast and feisty opening lap saw the talented teenager climb from 12th to sixth – making him the biggest mover in the field – and following crowd-pleasing duels with Adrián Fernández, Joel Esteban and Álvaro Carpe, he rose as high as fourth, posting the third-fastest lap along the way.
Perrone subsequently found himself drawn into a frenetic multi-bike battle, with positions changing corner-by-corner, before a clash with Jesús Ríos and David Almansa relegated him to 13th. With only three laps remaining, he faced an uphill struggle to regain ground, but digging deep, the 18-year-old determinedly fought back through to seventh at the chequered flag.
On the sister KTM RC250GP, Salmela made a similarly bright start to gain five spots to 13th, prior to engaging in a close scrap with COTA winner, Guido Pini. After the Italian crashed out, the Tech3 ace thereafter had a relatively lonely race to 15th place, notching up another championship point and accruing further invaluable experience.
The action next moves to Le Mans’ Bugatti Circuit on 8-10 May, with Perrone sitting fourth in the riders’ standings – only six points shy of second – and Salmela just outside the top ten in 11th. Red Bull KTM Tech3 will head into its home event occupying fourth position in the Teams’ title table. Prior to returning to France, the squad will remain at Jerez to conduct a full day of testing on Tuesday (28 April).
Valentin Perrone: "I’ve always tended to struggle a bit at Jerez, but on the first day I felt super confident and put in a really good lap in Practice without the benefit of any slipstream. On Saturday, the conditions were a bit tricky in FP2, which meant we couldn’t get too much information from the session and then in qualifying, I tried to do the lap time alone again but it didn’t work out. In the race, I knew I would need to push hard early on to move forward, which is what I did. I subsequently tried to save my tyres a bit for later, but a couple of mistakes meant I lost touch with the front guys and with the wind, it was super difficult to come back again. There were many riders fighting a lot in the second group and I had a touch towards the end, which cost me ground. I tried my best and P7 in the end is not bad, but we know we can do better. Still, we have the speed, so we will keep pushing to ensure we are even stronger at Le Mans.”
Rico Salmela: "We started the weekend well, and I was happy with the progress I was making on the bike here at Jerez – step-by-step, I’m becoming more confident. I felt good in Practice and was pleased to go straight through to Q2 again. The conditions were tricky throughout, though – the rain made it hard to get a proper read on the bike before qualifying, and then we had a lot of wind to deal with in the race. Overall, I’m not totally satisfied with how our weekend has gone, but we have the test now and we can get some more valuable laps under our belt before we head to Le Mans. We know we have a strong bike – we just need to put it all together."
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team, 1'44.070
2. David Munoz (SPA), Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP, +0.375
3. Alvaro Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0.585
12. Valentín Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.253
18. Rico Salmela (FIN), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.697
RACE RESULTS
1. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team, 33'23.56
2. Adrian Fernandez (SPA), Leopard Racing, +1.991
3. David Munoz (SPA), Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP, +2.009
7. Valentín Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +11.526
15. Rico Salmela (FIN), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +21.818
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team, 90 pts
2. Alvaro Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 53 pts
3. Adrian Fernandez (SPA), Leopard Racing, 49 pts
4. Valentin Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 47 pts
11. Rico Salmela (FIN), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 21 pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - D. Alonso (COL) - 1'43.710, 153.5 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2025 - J. Rueda (SPA) - 1'44.352, 152.5 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - D. Alonso (COL) - 1'43.710, 153.5 km/h
Top Speed: 2026 - V. Pratama (INA) - 222.2 km/h
