Misano completes latest double-header for Rueda and Carpe

Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 face a final round in Europe before four consecutive flyaway events over the next month and a half.

Jose Antonio Rueda and Alvaro Carpe move on to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli this weekend, wrapping up a double-header of Grand Prix weekends with the goal of achieving two good results that bring them more confidence and motivation than ever for the last part of the year. The San Marino Grand Prix is the final event before a hectic series of four rounds outside of Europe.

Moto3 World Championship leader Rueda bounced back from relatively difficult weekends in Hungary and Austria with a second place at the Catalan GP last weekend. He began the second half of the season with two fifth-place finishes, but stepped things up in Barcelona to rise from 15th to just 0.81 seconds off the win. Misano is a track at which he is yet to win in Moto3. In 2023, he placed ninth, while last year he had to retire from the first of the two Grands Prix held at Misano, before finishing 10th in the second one. However, as a Junior GP rider, Rueda did achieve a strong result there in 2022, with a second place. Rueda currently has 270 points and 10 podium finishes -7 of them victories-, leading his main rival, Angel Piqueras, by 64 points in the overall standings.

Carpe has been collecting points in recent races, but his last four results have seen him outside the leading group despite this. The latest such occurrence came in Barcelona, where he was unable to keep up the pace with the leaders in the final third of the race, suffering from excessive tyre wear. Still involved in the fight for the Rookie of the Year honour with Maximo Quiles, he wants to regain consistency and speed at Misano, where he has already achieved great results in his fledgling career: Carpe has been on the podium in three of the four races he contested there as a Red Bull Rookies Cup rider, winning one of them and clinching the 2024 title with second place there in the final race of the season. As a Junior GP rider, his best result was a sixth place at the first round of 2024. Carpe has 149 points in the Moto3 World Championship, and is fifth in the overall standings.

In short, the sixteenth race of the season for the Moto3 grid arrives with the aim of putting an end to the European streak of races. Red Bull KTM Ajo, with 419 points and a 116-point lead over their closest rival, are the standouts in the Team standings. At Misano, they have one win and four podium finishes in the last ten seasons: A win for Brad Binder (2016), second place for Miguel Oliveira (2015) and Jaume Masia (2021-2022), and third for Deniz Öncü (2023).

Moto3 Free Practice 1 gets underway on Friday morning, at 9:00 a.m. (local time). Sunday’s 20-lap race will take place at 11:00 a.m.

Circuit information – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
Length: 4.23 km / 2.63 miles
Width: 12 m / 39.37 ft.
Left corners: 6
Right corners: 10
Longest straight: 530 m / 1.738.85 ft
Constructed: 1972

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“The goal for Misano will be the same as for the previous fifteen rounds. We’ll start from scratch in Free Practice 1, to work as hard as possible and be ready for Sunday’s race. We have a significant challenge ahead of us, as I don’t have very fond memories of my visits to San Marino, so we’re motivated to try to turn things around and show that we are among the best, as we demonstrated in Barcelona. We want to enjoy the journey and compete at 100%, so that’s what we’ll do once again.”

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“It’s another race to continue learning and improving, at a circuit I like. We know the journey isn’t easy and that we’re going through a bit of a rough patch, but we’re motivated, confident, and eager to do well at Misano. Our hope never fades, and I know I can be at the front in every race, so this is another great opportunity to achieve that again. I’ve always had a great time in San Marino: The track is fun, and I have good memories there, so we’re going to go for it with all we have.”