A 1-2 for the Red Bull KTM Ajo duo continues their excellent form at Sepang.

There was an excellent Friday for Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 at the Malaysian Grand Prix, as riders Jose Antonio Rueda and Alvaro Carpe occupied the top two spots in Practice at Sepang. For the former, it continued a streak of 20 consecutive Q2, while Alvaro Carpe secured second place on his first ever day on the Malaysian track.

Conditions were somewhat delicate at the start of FP1, with the asphalt still drying but with damp patches from morning rain at Sepang. Temperatures of 26ºC on track, and humidity of 84%, helped make it completely dry before the end.

Rueda started off riding alone, steadily finding his groove. The 2025 Moto3 World Champion was in the Top 10 during the first part of the session, before heading back to the pit lane. After finetuning several things, he went back out with teammate Carpe, allowing them both to improve their times. Rueda finished the session in fifth, with a best time of 2:11.154 after 13 laps. Carpe completed the same number of laps as his teammate, adapting to a new track for him. Mid-table initially, he was able to continue learning from his teammate in the second part of the session, following him for several laps and moving to the sharp end of the FP1 standings. He ultimately closed out the Top 10 with a best time of 2:11.369.

After further rain, the track dried out before the start of Moto3 Practice, although the presence of oil at some corners delayed the start by more than half an hour. Finally, the action got underway with track temperatures of 32°C and 77°C humidity.

Rueda made a solid start, placing himself among the frontrunners early. However, the constant improvement of all his rivals ended up leaving him outside the Q2 spots with just a few minutes of the session remaining. Nevertheless, a strong Time Attack put him back on top, as he clocked a 2:11.152 riding on his own, 0.002 faster than his best lap from the morning. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders put in 13 laps apiece in the session, and Carpe was able to finish second, just 0.035 thousandths behind his teammate. The rookie was in the Top 10 positions for practically the entire session, taking first place with just a few minutes remaining, before Rueda snatched the best time from him. His fastest lap was a 2:11.187, 2 tenths faster than his time from the morning.

In conclusion, expectations are sky high once again for the Red Bull KTM Ajo duo, who will be looking for a great result tomorrow in the qualifying session for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Both riders will take part in Q2 from 1:10 p.m. (local time) on Saturday. Before that, at 8:40 a.m., they will participate in the second and final free practice session of the weekend.

Practice Results
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 2:11.152
2. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 2:11.187 (+0.035)
3. Brian Uriarte (KTM) | 2:11.202 (+0.050)
4. Angel Piqueras (KTM) | 2:11.264 (+0.112)
5. David Almansa (Honda) | 2:11.273 (+0.121)

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“We had some tricky conditions today, especially in the morning. Regardless, we focused on working the same way we’ve been doing all year, gathering as much data as possible and running a lot of laps during the first sessions. It’s not easy to know where the limits are given the track conditions, but the initial impressions are very good. Now it’s time to keep working to continue progressing during the second day, when we could once again encounter unusual conditions. We’ll be ready to face whatever the track throws at us.”

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“It was a difficult morning. The conditions weren’t easy for learning a circuit from scratch, but sometimes these things happen, and we’re here to learn -no matter what the scenario is. In the afternoon, conditions were slightly better, but still a bit strange. Even so, we were able to gradually improve until we reached second place, then we worked on our pace, so I’m very happy with how this first day went. We’ll have to see what conditions we encounter tomorrow and work hard this afternoon to finalise some details.”