RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP aims to proceed positive season start in Portugal

This weekend, the second round of the FIM Moto2 World Championship will be held at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal. After RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP started the new season very strongly in Qatar, the Dutch team will be looking to continue on the same footing in Portimão.

The 2024 season started in impressive fashion for RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP with a second-place finish for Barry Baltus. It was the first Grand Prix podium for the Belgian rider and the first podium finish for the Dutch team in the Moto2 class. Zonta van den Goorbergh also showed throughout the weekend that he was among the fastest riders, however a loss of grip prevented him from fighting at the front.

That will be the goal for both riders this weekend. Baltus and Van den Goorbergh, like the entire RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team, showed that they can compete with the fastest riders in the Moto2 class.

The 4.59-kilometre Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, better known as ‘Portimão’, is a modern classic on the Grand Prix calendar. The circuit has nine right turns and six left turns but is mainly characterised by its many elevation changes and blind corners. It is therefore a real challenge for riders to get the most out of the machine there.

Barry Baltus: “We are ready for another GP weekend and the goal will be the same like always. We’ll have to start from zero again and build ourselves up during the weekend. It will be a more normal race weekend compared to Qatar but we have shown that we can be on the podium, so our target is to achieve that again.”

Zonta van den Goorbergh: “In Qatar we didn’t get our deserved result so this weekend feels like revenge for me. During the test in Portimão last month we had very mixed weather conditions but it looks to be better for this weekend. Like in Qatar, we’re going to try to be fast right from the first session, then we’ll see what’s possible after that.”

Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “In Qatar we had a great weekend as a team, with our first podium finish in the Moto2 class in the end. Chapeau to the whole team and I am sure that won’t be our last podium finish this year. It gives a lot of confidence for next weekend in Portugal. It is a circuit where we have had mixed results but both riders love coming there. Our aim is to continue in the way we started in Qatar. The weather conditions look stable and we will do our best to continue where we left off last time out.”

The race weekend at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve starts on Friday morning with a forty-minute free practice, followed in the afternoon by the first official practice session, also forty minutes long. On Saturday morning, the second and concluding official practice session will take place after which qualifying will start in the afternoon at 13:45 local time, 14:45 Central European time. The 21-lap race will start Sunday afternoon at 12:15pm local time, 13:15 CET.