Valentin Perrone earned pole position during Moto3 World Championship qualifying Saturday at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, in Italy. Riding his Red Bull KTM Tech3 on Pirelli control tires, Perrone topped the 27-rider field with a lap time of 1:40.328.
Joel Kelso was the best of the rest with a 1:40.353 on his LevelUp MTA KTM, and Perrone’s teammate, Jacob Roulstone claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a 1:40.420.
Row-two qualifiers included Red Bull Ajo KTM’s Jose Antonio Rueda (1:40.438), David Muñoz on his Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP KTM (1:40.440) and Adrian Fernandez on his Leopard Racing Honda (1:40.508).
QualifyingResults Moto3
More from a press release issued by Dorna:
Perrone on pole at Misano ahead of Moto3™ battle. A second pole of the season for the Argentinean who leads a mixed grid into Sunday.
Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took pole position at Misano in Moto3™, the second of his rookie season after the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Perrone left it late to fly up the order, whilst it’s a KTM front row lockout, as Joel Kelso (LEVELUP-MTA) took P2 and Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), who makes a first appearance on the front row.
Moving up from Q1, Ruche Moodley (DENSSI – BOE Motorsport) headed Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and teammate Stefano Nepa joined the pole shootout. The Q2 tactics were out in force straight away the riders hit the track all together but did just one lap, going straight back into pitlane. Meanwhile, those who stayed out got their bankers in. With eight minutes remaining, there was drama for David Almansa (Leopard Racing) as he crashed on the approach to Turn 2, with his bike bringing down Guido Pini (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP).
It was all to play for with two minutes remaining; David Muñoz (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) was looking good for pol,e but it wasn’t over yet as Valentin Perrone rocketed up the order to bag pole position, ahead of Australian duo Kelso and Roulstone, making it two Tech 3 KTMs on the front row. For Roulstone, it’s a career first front row whilst Kelso makes it back-to-back front rows. Championship leader Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) leads the second row of the grid from fourth ahead of Muñoz and Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) who secured top Honda honours.
The third row of the grid features Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) ahead of Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) and Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team), the latter of whom made a mistake on his final flying lap. Coming through Q1, Carpe completed the top ten. Second in the Championship, Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) was only 11th, whilst after their falls, Almansa was 13th and Pini 16th.
Check out the full qualifying results from Moto3 at the San Marino GP!
