Strong performances from Baltus and Van den Goorbergh during qualifying at the Sachsenring

Fieten Olie Racing GP riders Barry Baltus performed well during Saturday’s qualifying day at the Sachsenring. Baltus managed to set the fastest time in Q1 and then qualified 14th in Q2, Van den Goorbergh posted the 23rd time after finishing third in Practice 3 in the morning.

It was a tricky start to the weekend at the Sachsenring for Fieten Olie Racing GP. The first practice on Friday morning was dry and both riders were classified outside the top 14 at that point. That would later prove crucial because in both Practice 2 on Friday afternoon and in Practice 3 on Saturday morning it rained, preventing the lap times of the first practice from being improved. As a result, Barry Baltus and Zonta van den Goorbergh both had to take part in Q1.

In that Q1 session, Baltus was very strong and set the fastest lap time, securing a place in Q2. Van den Goorbergh clocked the ninth fastest lap time giving him the 23rd starting place, even though he was only 1.3 seconds slower than pole position. Baltus eventually finished 14th giving both riders the prospect of a good result in the German Grand Prix.

Barry Baltus – P14: “For me it was a better day compared to yesterday. This morning in the wet conditions I had quite a good feeling but because of the rain we had to go to Q1 anyway. It was a little bit disappointing having to go to Q1 but in the end it wasn’t so bad because we hadn’t had a lot of dry track time at that point.

We were fast straightaway and managed to go through to Q2, that was quite nice. Then in Q2 couldn’t match my lap time from Q1 anymore so it wasn’t the best performance. But still, we were a lot faster than Friday and I’m feeling confident for tomorrow. It’s going to be a long and hard race but I’m looking forward to get stuck in tomorrow.”

Zonta van den Goorbergh – P23: “We started very well today with third place in the third practice session. It was in rainy conditions but it was a nice start to the day anyway. During qualifying it was dry and we knew beforehand that it would not be easy with the lack of track time in dry conditions. Therefore I am not completely satisfied with the position we achieved. On the other hand, the gap to pole position is not very big so I have a bit of mixed feelings about it, there definitely could have been more.

It is clear that we still need to make a step forward for tomorrow, the feeling with the bike was not quite right yet because we only had the first practice in dry conditions. We have made some adjustments and will do everything we can to get a nice result tomorrow.”

Jarno Janssen – Fieten Olie Racing GP team manager: “We had quite a good day today. In the morning it was wet and that wasn’t quite according to the forecast either. In that session our riders showed their best side and were both in the top eight, a nice boost.

They were not directly in Q2 so it had to be done through Q1. Barry managed that perfectly with the fastest time in Q1 and a very good lap time, unfortunately Zonta didn’t get there. In the end, we are absolutely happy with the starting positions of both riders so we are now looking forward to tomorrow’s race.”

The Moto2 race over 25 laps at the Sachsenring will start at 12:15pm on Sunday afternoon.