RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP aims to continue good form in beloved Japan
This weekend, the 16th Grand Prix of 2024 will be held at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Japan. It is the third consecutive race weekend in a row and the second of five overseas Grands Prix to be run now. After a positive weekend in Indonesia, RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP hopes to build on that performance this weekend.
The Mobility Resort Motegi is 4.8 kilometres long and has eight right turns and six left turns. The circuit is particularly demanding on brakes as there are no less than five straights that are followed by fairly slow corners. The circuit has been on the MotoGP calendar since 1999 and has hosted the Japanese Grand Prix since 2004. It has been held here every year with the exception of the covid years.
Barry Baltus and Zonta van den Goorbergh had a strong weekend in Indonesia with the Belgian finishing 11th, while the Dutchman, with a 17th place after two Long Lap penalties, did not get the result he deserved. They both managed to score points in the Moto2 race at the Mobility Resort Motegi a year ago, that will be the aim this year too.
Barry Baltus: “After a very good Saturday and Sunday in Indonesia, I am looking forward to get back on the bike this weekend in Japan. It’s a completely different track but I like it a lot. I like Japan in general, it is very nice to be here and the country is fantastic. Together with the team we did a great job last week so that’s how we need to continue. After finishing eleventh last time out, let’s see if we can get into the top ten this weekend. We’ll have to wait a bit for what the weather will do, but I’m looking forward to a good weekend.”
Zonta van den Goorbergh: “A new race weekend brings new opportunities. Hopefully this weekend things will go our way, because I hope we won’t have the bad luck we had last weekend in Indonesia again. My opinion regarding the first-lap incident still hasn’t changed but we are now looking ahead to the race weekend in Japan. It went well there last year so hopefully we can be right there from the first session. It will be important to find a good set-up early in the weekend so we can build on that as the weekend goes on.”
Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “We have arrived in Japan, the second of five overseas GP’s we have now. It’s always nice to be in Japan, a country we have strong connection with as a team. This is mainly because for four years we have worked very closely with NTS, who will be our guests again this weekend. We can look back on last Sunday in Indonesia with satisfaction, even though we all know that the result does not fully reflect what we showed. Last year we had a good race at Motegi with both riders well into the points, our aim is to repeat that this year.”
The race weekend at the Mobility Resort Motegi starts with free practice on Friday morning after which the first official practice session will be held in the afternoon. Then the second official practice will take place on Saturday morning after which it will be clear which riders will participate in Q1 or Q2. Qualifying starts Saturday afternoon at 13:45 local time (06:45 Central European summer time) and the 19-lap race starts Sunday afternoon at 12:15 (05:15 CEST).