Valentín Perrone recovered from qualifying 20th and serving an early Long Lap Penalty to finish the Malaysian Grand Prix in P15. Whilst, Rico Salmela’s weekend ended in heartache as his recovery from 18th on the grid to the top ten ended eight laps in when he crashed at the final turn.
Grand Prix of Malaysia
Practice
After the Moto3 race at Phillip Island was cancelled last Sunday, the Long Lap Penalty that Perrone picked up there was carried over to this weekend. The 18-year old didn’t have the ideal feeling in FP1 and struggled with the lack of grip in the afternoon heat. He ended day one in P17. By contrast, Salmela showed superb potential on his first visit to the complex Malaysian track and finished Friday in second.
Qualifying
After trying some different settings to aid his grip issues, Perrone struggled throughout the session, and placed at the back of the grid in FP2. But he showed good improvements in Q1, when he lapped the 5.54km circuit 0.6s faster than his time from the morning. That was enough for sixth in the session and P20 overall.
Having got an early banker lap in at the start of Q2, Salmela’s hopes of a great qualifying came undone when he crashed out at Turn 6 in the closing minutes of the 15-minute shootout. Thankfully, he was OK but was pushed back to 18th on the grid.
Race
Saturday’s clouds had cleared by Sunday morning. The race day schedule ran an hour later than usual here with the 15-lap Moto3 race kicking off at 12:00 MYT (UTC+8). Conditions were punishing, with track temperatures hitting 46 degrees and humidity stood at 55%.
With conditions so hot, the tyre drop was expected to be big. The two Tech3 riders had different strategies, with Perrone choosing Pirelli’s medium rear tyre, while Salmela opted for the soft.
Perrone had a muted start and dropped two places. The young Argentinean then served his Penalty in the opening laps, which dropped him to 22nd.
But his recovery started from there. He soon joined the back of a lively fight for 14th, which included four other riders. After an intense scrap with Adrian Cruces and Casey O’Gorman, Perrone came home in 15th, just over a tenth of a second back of the front of that group.
Salmela enjoyed a strong getaway and gained five positions on the first lap alone. By lap four, he was inside the top ten and near the front of the second group, fighting for ninth. With two seconds to make up to the riders ahead, the young Finn was pushing when he crashed out at Turn 15 on lap eight.
Next up is the third and final race in this triple header of Grands Prix as Salmela and Perrone prepare to fly west to Doha for the Grand Prix of Qatar from 6-8 November. In the 2026 Moto3 Team’s Championship, Red Bull KTM Tech3 now sits fifth.
Valentin Perrone: "A difficult weekend. Overall, we struggled a lot. From the first day I felt like I couldn’t ride as I wanted. In the race I felt zero grip and I didn’t have the best feeling. I struggled to make progress and go forward. Then I had to do the Long Lap. But I tried to stay calm and take care of the tyre because the race was long. I tried to put my pace down and go to the front of the group ahead. This is what I did. Of course, this isn’t where I wanted to finish. But I’m improving my riding style. Even when I don’t feel good, I’m still making steps. I want to say thanks to all my team, for all the work that they’re doing. We’ll take what we learnt from Malaysia and go for it at the next one.”
Rico Salmela: "We finished the weekend here in Malaysia. To be honest, I felt pretty good all weekend on the bike. In the hot conditions it was a bit more difficult, but we managed it well. On Saturday I made a mistake in quali and I had to start a bit further back. But we knew we had the pace and speed to come through. That’s what we did. We started 18th and in a couple of laps we were P10, just back of the fight for sixth. We started catching them and were getting closer every lap. The pace was pretty decent. But when I went into the last corner, I lost the front. It was a slow one, which is a shame. I’ll have to learn from this. I just want to say sorry to the team that I couldn’t finish the race. I made a mistake and have to learn from it. Let’s keep pushing for the last three races."
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team, 2'10.396
2. Brian Uriarte (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +0.084
3. Hakim Danish (MAL), AEON Credit - MT Helmets - MSI, +0.133
18. Rico Salmela (FIN), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.371
20. Valentín Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.409 (Q1)
RACE RESULTS
1. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team, 33'07.634
2. Veda Pratama (IND), Honda Team Asia, +3.734
3. Alvaro Carpe (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, +4.184
15. Valentín Perrone (ARG),Red Bull KTM Tech3, +27.382
DNF. Rico Salmela (FIN), Red Bull KTM Tech3 , +8 Laps
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Maximo Quiles (SPA), CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team, 376 pts
2. David Almansa (SPA), Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP, 228 pts
3. Brian Uriarte (SPA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 205 pts
8. Valentín Perrone (ARG), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 121 pts
11. Rico Salmela (FIN), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 89 pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - A. Fernandez (SPA) - 2'09.542 - 154.0 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2026 - A. Carpe (SPA) - 2'10.967 - 152.3 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - A. Fernandez (SPA) - 2'09.542 - 154.0 km/h
Top Speed: 2026 - D. Munoz (SPA) - 235.8 km/h
