Van den Goorbergh and Baltus less than a tenth off from Q2 and occupy seventh row of the grid in Misano
Zonta van den Goorbergh and Barry Baltus claimed the 19th and 20th starting positions respectively for the San Marino Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon. In the first qualifying session at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, the Dutchman was only 0.036 seconds short of a place in Q2 while the Belgian was only 0.080 seconds off.
After a difficult first day at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, especially for Barry Baltus, both RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP riders were close to a place in Q2 on Saturday. In the second and final official practice session, Baltus finished 16th, just 0.085 seconds from a direct place in Q2, while Van den Goorbergh finished 17th in that session, just 0,091 seconds away from an entry to Q2.
This meant both riders had to participate in Q1 in the afternoon. In this session too, they were both very evenly matched with Van den Goorbergh posting the fifth time, making him fall just 0.036 seconds short of a place in Q2. With this lap time, the Dutchman will start Sunday afternoon from nineteenth on the grid. Baltus finished just behind his teammate in sixth place in Q1, 0,090 seconds away from a position in Q2 which puts him 20th on the grid.
Zonta van den Goorbergh – P19: “In terms of setup, we finally found the right direction again. It was a shame not to go to Q2 today but we definitely had the speed for that. I’ve been pushing over the limit all weekend but the changes we made for qualifying have taken us in the right direction. That gives us hope for tomorrow and offers some perspective.”
Barry Baltus – P20: “Today was like the first day of the weekend again for me. We changed the bike completely and straight away, it felt better. Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of time left with this setting but I am happy with the work we have done today. We didn’t go to Q2 because I made a mistake by exceeding track limits, otherwise we would have been there. We were less than a tenth off and the pace is not so bad, so we need to be confident for tomorrow. We made a big step forward compared to yesterday and the team did a good job, so our target is to score some points tomorrow.”
Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “Both riders had a strong day today. Barry recovered well after having a bit of an off-day yesterday. We were very close to a place in Q2, it was only a few hundredths that we were missing. It is very unfortunate that it means you’re out of it but we are in a position that gives us a chance to fight for the points tomorrow. That will also be our goal so hopefully we’ll have a good start tomorrow and we can be with the right group after the first lap straight away. I’m confident that we can do it.”
The 22-lap Moto2 race at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli will start at 12:15 on Sunday afternoon.