Baltus finishes seventh in intense Moto2 race at Phillip Island, DNF for Van den Goorbergh
Barry Baltus finished seventh in the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. The Belgian managed to hold his own in a number of fierce duels, resulting in his second top-ten finish of the season. For Zonta van den Goorbergh the Moto2 race in Australia came to an early end due to a crash.
Starting from fifth on the grid, Baltus did not get away well and after two laps he had dropped to 13th position. However, thanks to a strong race pace, the Belgian rider managed to get back to the front quickly, battling hard in the group that was fighting for fourth position. It was back and forth between Baltus and his competitors after which he eventually crossed the finish line in seventh place. It is his best result since the season opener in Qatar and with 40 points he is now nineteenth in the championship.
From eighteenth on the grid, it was going to be a more difficult story for Van den Goorbergh. As his feeling with the bike was not optimal, it was difficult to get towards the front after which things went wrong on the fifth lap. After a small crash, the Dutchman was not allowed to continue his way which meant he could not take any points into the next Grand Prix weekend.
Barry Baltus – P7: “I am happy about today’s race. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a race this much, and a long time since I felt this good. The start wasn’t great and I lost some positions, but I stayed calm and managed to go forward again. In the end I used a bit too much of my rear tyre so I couldn’t fight for that top five anymore, but still it was a good result. I hope we can continue like this in the coming races.”
Zonta van den Goorbergh – DNF: “It was a difficult weekend where it didn’t really ‘click’ at any point. We don’t really know why I couldn’t get a good feeling with the bike and during the race we had the same problems as on Saturday, especially in the fast sections. It was a tricky race where I ended up going straight because of a false neutral, I was not allowed to continue after a small tip-off which meant my race was over. We need to analyse why we struggled so much this weekend to make sure we can avoid this in future weekends. Now we go to Thailand where at least it will be a lot warmer.”
Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “We had a fantastic result with Barry, having already secured a very good starting position yesterday. The start was quite difficult for him where he lost some places but then he had a very good rhythm. Those who watched the race saw that he made some great overtakes. In the closing stages he just didn’t have enough left to keep up with Agius but seventh place is a great result. I’m very happy for him and for the team, it really was a race where you couldn’t sit still from the excitement.
Zonta had a difficult weekend and struggled to find the right speed from the start. It’s a very difficult track with high speeds and you have to work very hard to get the machine in the right place. In the race, the bike wente into neutral resulting in a small crash, then you know your race is over. That’s a real shame, especially considering the great result a fortnight ago.
Now we head to Thailand where both our riders again have good chances for great results. I am confident we can do well there again.”
The next Grand Prix will be held next weekend, from 25 to 27 October, at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand.