RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP begins in Barcelona with two Grand Prix weekends in a row

This weekend, the sixth Grand Prix of 2024 will be held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Catalan circuit has been part of the MotoGP calendar since 1992 and has been the scene of countless spectacular battles ever since.

The 4.66-kilometre Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has eight right-hand turns and six left-hand turns. In particular, the very long Turn 3 and the series of right-hand corners at the end of the laps cause very high temperatures on the right side of the tyres.

After the Catalan Grand Prix was held in September last year, the race is now being held in spring again, as it was before. The weather forecast indicates warm and sunny conditions which promises to be a challenging weekend for the riders and the machines.

Barry Baltus: “It’s a new race weekend which brings new opportunities. I didn’t perform well in the last three races so it’s time to rebuild our confidence again. The weekend in Le Mans was good for us, unfortunately I didn’t finish it with a good result in the race. I think we can do a good job in Barcelona because it is a track that I really like. It will be interesting to see what happens with the tyres because the grip level is very low. Let’s see what we can do there, the most important thing is to finish the race and regain our confidence.”

Zonta van den Goorbergh: “Two busy race weekends await us with Barcelona and Mugello. After being fast at Jerez and Le Mans, we go to Barcelona with confidence, I think we can do well there. In the past it hasn’t really been one of my favourite circuits but last year we did quite well there. I do think it will be different this year because of the tyres, also because we are riding there at a different time of year the grip level will be different. I am curious to see how that will work out and we will do our best as always.”

Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “We are about to embark on the first ‘double header’ of the year, two race weekends in a row. Starting in Barcelona and then moving on to Mugello, an important period for us as this is the run-up to our home race in Assen.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a classic track where knowledge can make the difference, I think it is not a bad circuit for our riders. Unfortunately, the results in the races of the last few weekends were disappointing. We showed in those weekends that we have the speed but it’s not coming out on Sunday as yet. We need to work hard on that in the coming weekends and make sure everything falls into place on Sunday as well.”

The weekend starts with free practice on Friday morning followed by the first official practice session in the afternoon. Then the second official practice will take place on Saturday morning after which it will be clear which riders will have to participate in Q1 or Q2. Qualifying starts in the afternoon at 13:45 with the 21-lap race starting at 12:15 on Sunday afternoon.