Rico Salmela equalled the best result of his Moto3 career by taking a hard-fought fifth place at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday after competing for the podium places in the race’s first half.
Valentín Perrone took some laps to get used to set-up changes made post-Qualifying. After a tough opening, he was challenging for ninth place when he had a close call with another rider on the final lap before coming home in 14th.
Grand Prix of Japan
Practice
Friday’s main objective was to test out the grippy new track surface at the Mobility Resort Motegi and assess Pirelli’s two tyre options for the weekend. Perrone enjoyed two strong sessions, finishing fourth and fifth to secure an automatic spot for Q2. Salmela’s day was more complicated. As well as learning the track layout for the first time, he encountered three yellow flags at the close of Practice and had a lap time cancelled, which left the Finn 15th.
Qualifying
Salmela enjoyed a strong FP2 session, when he set the ninth fastest time and did a host of strong laps alone to prepare for Sunday. Second in Q1, the 18-year-old then improved his best time from Friday by close to 0.9s to qualify a promising seventh.
After such a strong Friday, Perrone had lost some feeling on Saturday. Uncomfortable in the track’s numerous heavy braking zones, he was able to produce one competitive lap in Q2 to place on the middle of the third row in eighth.
Race
Temperatures were lower on race day with overcast conditions and mild temperatures of 21 degrees greeting the Tech3 riders when the race kicked off at 11:15 local time.
Starting from the front of the third row, Salmela enjoyed a strong getaway and gained a place on lap one to join an eight-rider breakaway at the front of the race. Soon, the lead group was stretched apart with five names remaining at the front, and the young Finn could hang on to the back of the podium battle while fifth and posting the same times as the leader.
Caught up in a nice fight with Brian Uriarte for fourth in the race’s final third, Salmela finished less than a second back of the Spaniard and just four seconds off the victor David Almansa in a race that was a colossal 24 seconds faster than the 2025 event at this track.
Perrone’s crew worked late into Saturday to fix the braking issues he had throughout the day. The young Argentine took a few laps to get up to speed with the new setting and dropped back to twelfth in the opening stint.
The #73 rider was then involved in a multi-rider fight for ninth. Starting the final lap tenth, a close encounter with Adrian Fernandez pushed him back four places, which meant he was less than happy to finish in 14th.
This weekend was the first of seven rounds in a hectic nine-week run. Next up is the Indonesian Grand Prix at the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit, which kicks off in just five days’ time (9-11 October). 16 races into 2026, Red Bull KTM Tech3 continues to sit fourth in the 2026 Team’s Championship.
Rico Salmela: "It was a good weekend overall! We did a good job with the team all weekend long and did a lot of quality laps on Friday and Saturday. That was good for the race pace and I was riding alone. That’s definitely the way to work. The pace today was OK. I made some mistakes, which caused me to lose the lead group. But I was hanging in there more or less all race, not too far from the first group. I’m not too far from the podium so we need to be happy. Let’s keep this momentum for Indonesia and the other overseas races and let’s see what we can do there. We’ll keep improving with the team and enjoying the progress we’re making. If we keep doing this, let’s see how this year will end up."
Valentin Perrone: "It was a difficult race, and the weekend has been quite tough. We started quite well on Friday and finished P4 and P5. Then in Qualifying with hot conditions, I struggled a lot to feel good and couldn’t stop the bike. I could just do one lap quite fast and finished P8. Then in the race, we put in a different setting to try and improve my feeling in the braking zones. Before, I felt I couldn’t overtake. Then I started badly and lost some positions, and after one or two laps the group had already split. But I started to understand the changes to the bike, and I was much better than yesterday. So, I could start passing riders. All race long I was fighting with some riders. I was just behind Adrian Cruces and [Joel] Esteban and was aiming to finish in P9 at the front of my group. But then I was fighting with Petito (Adrian Fernandez) and he came across me. I went wide, lost positions and couldn’t do anything else. I’m happy because we did a step with the bike, which was OK. We’ll keep working, learning and I’ll try to do my best at the next races.”
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. David Almansa (SPA), Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP, 1'54.572
2. Brian Uriarte (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0.045
3. Álvaro Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0..075
7. Rico Salmela (FIN), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.675
8. Valentín Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.882
RACE RESULTS
1. David Almansa (SPA), Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP, 32'45.544
2. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team, +0.046
3. Álvaro Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +2.738
5. Rico Salmela (FIN), Red Bull KTM Tech3 , +4.430
14. Valentín Perrone (ARG),Red Bull KTM Tech3, +21.776
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team, 326 pts
2. David Almansa (SPA), Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP, 199 pts
3. Álvaro Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 191 pts
6. Valentín Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 120 pts
10. Rico Salmela (FIN), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 81 pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2026 - D. Almansa (SPA)- 1'54.572 - 150.8 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2026 - B. Uriarte (SPA)- 1'54.710 - 150.6 km/h
Best Pole: 2026 - D. Almansa (SPA)- 1'54.572 - 150.8 km/h
Top Speed: 2026 – R. Ogiwara – 227.8 km/h
