RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP travels to Le Mans for fifth Grand Prix of 2024

This weekend the French Grand Prix will be held at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans, the fifth Grand Prix of the year. RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP travels to the French circuit with confidence after a positive test day at Jerez following the Spanish GP.

The 4.19-kilometre Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans is part of the Circuit de La Sarthe where, among other things, the 24-hour car race is run. The Bugatti Circuit has nine right turns and five left turns and has been on the Grand Prix calendar since the 1960s. Last year it set a record with the number of spectators and this year too, it is expected that very many (French) fans will be present in Le Mans.

For French-speaking Belgian Barry Baltus, the French Grand Prix is the closest thing to a home race, no doubt many Belgian fans will also be there to cheer on the 20-year-old rider. Somewhat surprisingly for Le Mans, weather forecasts indicate that the weekend will be sunny and warm with temperatures well above 20°C.

Barry Baltus: “The French Grand Prix is always very special for me as a French-speaking Belgian, it is the closest Grand Prix to a home race for me. Last year I had one of my best races of the season there with a seventh place and it is a circuit where I love to ride. I am looking forward to seeing all the fans at Le Mans and will do my best to perform well again.”

Zonta van den Goorbergh: “The sixth Grand Prix of the season is just around the corner. After the race weekend in Jerez we had a good test day where we were able to try a lot. It will be important to check this weekend if that works in Le Mans as well. After a couple of difficult races, we were able to score points again in Jerez and the goal for next weekend will be to continue that way. The weather forecast looks good and, as always, we are going to do our best.”

Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “We are already on the eve of the French Grand Prix in Le Mans, a circuit with a very rich history. For us this has been a good circuit in the past, Barry in particular has had good results there. It is definitely a weekend we are looking forward to and hope to continue in the same way we ended last week during the test in Jerez. We did manage to make some steps there for our feeling and understand some things better in terms of setup. We could see that with both riders who were fast during the day so let’s build on that.”

The weekend 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 have to participate in Q1 or Q2. Qualifying starts in the afternoon at 13:45 with the 22-lap race starting at 12:15 on Sunday afternoon.