Baltus and Van den Goorbergh start exciting season of Moto2 in Portugal

Baltus and Van den Goorbergh start exciting season of Moto2 in Portugal

After a long winter, the Moto2 season is about to begin for Fieten Olie Racing GP. The team had a short and intense preparation with five test days in one week, which demanded a lot from both mechanics and riders. The progress shown during these tests was hopeful for the Dutch team to start the new Grand Prix season in good spirits.

The last three test days for the Moto2 class took place at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, which will also host the first Grand Prix of 2023 this weekend. With warm and sunny weather conditions predicted, all the ingredients are in place for a spectacular season opener at the undulating circuit.

Barry Baltus: “After two successful tests I cannot wait to race. It went really well and we have done a great job as a team. We are confident but we’ll need to remain focused and not get ahead of ourselves. I am sure we will have a great first Grand Prix of the year, and the target is to build up the season from there.”

Zonta van den Goorbergh: “This season, with one year of Grand Prix experience, there are of course expectations that were not there in previous years. I hope to be in Q2 a little more often, although I managed to do that a few times last year but then it was unexpected. I also hope to finish in the points regularly, if we keep our upward trend I think that is doable. Of course, it is a long season and time will tell how everything will turn out. In any case, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Jarno Janssen – Fieten Olie Racing GP team manager: “After a total of five test days in Jerez and Portimão, which went very well and without any problems, we have shown that we are competitive. That gives us a lot of encouragement for the upcoming weekend. After a long winter we are in good shape, the team and the riders are fully ready and we are looking forward with great anticipation to what this first Grand Prix will bring.”

Baltus and Van den Goorbergh will start the weekend with two free practice sessions on Friday, followed by a third free practice and qualifying session on Saturday. There is no more warm-up session for the Moto2 class, with the race starting Sunday afternoon at 12:15 local time (13:15 Central European Time). Please note that from Saturday to Sunday, daylight saving time starts.