• First competitive outing in North America
• Wet conditions in practice
• Narrowly misses out on points
South African teenager Ruche Moodley is currently racing in the hotly contested Moto3 motorcycle world championship series. The Gqeberha-born teen made his way to Austin, Texas for the third round of the 2025 season.
This was Moodley’s first-ever competitive visit to North America and the daunting Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Uniquely, this racetrack hosts several top-flight series including Nascar, Formula One, GT Challenge and, of course, MotoGP.
The race weekend started in tough conditions for all competitors as the heavens opened during Friday’s practice sessions. This made matters extremely tricky for rookies, such as Moodley.
“Friday was wet and wild,” said the teen. “It was all about learning where the available grip levels were and understanding the bike. Starting the race weekend with a wet session isn’t great as it robs rookies of valuable track time. We can’t really learn where the ultimate limits are in the wet.”
As a result of the ‘lost’ time, Moodley had a tough qualifying session. The youngster qualified in 22nd place. While qualifying was a challenge, the only South African in the field had a steady and positive race day.
Moodley had a great start in the race, making up several positions on the steep run up to the tricky Turn 1. Riders jostled for position with many pushed wide and having a scruffy opening sequence.
“I knew that tyre performance degradation would be high at COTA. The high-speed corner sequences really eat away at the rubber. I knew if I bided my time the performance would come to me later in the race.”
The MotoGP race at COTA is known as the Horsepower Rodeo. The fast and flowing nature of the track means that riders are often on the edge of adhesion at very high speeds. As a result, they can be bucked off at any moment.
The SA youngster settled into a rhythm that helped him gain positions as the laps clicked off and more experienced rivals headed for the scenery. He was setting good laps times, picking off fellow racers along the way. As a result, he ran as high as 13th place by lap 11.
“From the start of the race I had an odd feeling from the front-end of the bike. The grip from the front tyre didn’t give me lots of confidence and it got worse as the race went on. After the race we discovered that there was a technical issue with the front tyre.”
Ultimately, Moodley brought the No. 21 BOE Motorsports KTM home in 16th place, narrowly missing out on points.
“We know this is a year of learning and we take each race as it comes. Most of the tracks we visit this season will be completely new to me. COTA really does live up to its reputation as the Horsepower Rodeo and I can’t wait to race here again,” concluded the teenager.
Issued by Double Apex on behalf of Ruche Moodley.
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