Baltus and RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP end collaboration with season finale in Barcelona, Van den Goorbergh taken out early on
Barry Baltus’ partnership with RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP has come to an end with the last Grand Prix of 2024 in Barcelona. The Belgian rider finished 18th in the Moto2 race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and will now embark on a new adventure. Starting from the front row of the grid, Zonta van den Goorbergh started the last race of the year strongly but it came to an end on the second lap after a collision with two other riders.
After a very good start to the weekend in Barcelona, Van den Goorbergh and Baltus qualified third and 12th respectively, leaving the team hopeful of a good finish in the 2024 season finale. Van den Goorbergh started well and was able to keep up with the leading group before things already went wrong in the first corner of the second lap. The Dutchman was hit by another rider which meant he couldn’t stop his machine himself in time and crashed heavily. The 18-year-old took a big hit but fortunately got away without serious injuries.
Baltus lost several positions at the start but then managed to get back to the front. In the closing stages of the race, the Belgian rider encountered grip problems which caused him to drop back. In the end, Baltus crossed the line in 18th place in his last race with RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP, bringing an end to the four-year partnership.
Baltus finished the season 21st in the final standings with 40 points, teammate Van den Goorbergh is 22nd in the final standings with 31 points.
Barry Baltus – P18: “It wasn’t the race weekend I imagined to finish the season but I definitely did my best. The first part of the race went quite well but in the last couple of laps I had a big drop on the tyre. After four years with this team, our time together comes to an end. I want to say a big thanks to everyone and we’ll see each other next year from a different box. It was an emotional weekend but that’s life, we share the good and bad moments together. I have had an amazing time with RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP and now I’m looking forward to the next adventure.”
Zonta van den Goorbergh – DNF: “My race came to an early end after I ended up between both KTMs in Turn 1 on the second lap. That’s very unfortunate because we had a very good weekend. Even though my race was short, I still felt strong. I’m really bummed about it because I think today could have been our day, based on what we showed all weekend. It is unfortunate what it is but this is not how I would have wanted to end the season. I want to thank the team for this year where we have had ups and downs. This weekend, with the exception of the race, we showed again what we can do and at the end of the year we definitely had the speed. With that feeling we will go into next season and we have to make sure that everything will fall into place then and we will get the results.”
Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “It has been a season with ups and downs but we can definitely say the same about this weekend. Both riders were so tremendously strong yesterday so we went into the race with a lot of confidence. Zonta was in good shape and was able to keep up with the first group but things went wrong on the second lap. It was an unfortunate situation and we are lucky that he did not suffer a serious injury. He showed again this weekend how fast he can be and we now have to see that we start rewarding ourselves in the races.
Barry let it down a bit in the early stages after which he had to fight his way back to the front. This cost him too much of his tyres, causing the pace to drop in the closing stages. We had a nice farewell yesterday in front of all partners and sponsors in our hospitality and are grateful for the four seasons we had with Barry. We learnt a lot from him and I think he learnt something from us as well and now we are both taking a different path. We want to wish him the best of luck and will fortunately see him back on the Moto2 grid next year.
For us too, the season is now really over and we can go home after a long and hard season. Over the winter, we will prepare as best we can for what’s to come in 2025 and will hit the track again in February.”