Van den Goorbergh eighth on the grid at Misano after best qualifying of the season, Baltus narrowly misses third row of the grid
The RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team had a good qualifying day of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Zonta van den Goorbergh achieved his best qualifying result of the season with eighth place while Barry Baltus was able to go straight to Q2. The Belgian finished sixteenth in the second qualifying session but was only a tenth short of a place in the top eight.
With a fifteenth time for Barry Baltus and an eighteenth time for Zonta van den Goorbergh on Friday, the second race weekend at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli started well for RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP. However, the objective was to get into Q2 with both riders, which required some very fast lap times in the second and final practice session on Saturday morning. In this session, Baltus posted a solid thirteenth time and could therefore go straight to Q2 while Van den Goorbergh finished twentieth and had to go to Q1.
In this Q1 session, the Dutchman rode a 1’35.351 which made him the fastest rider of that session which allowed him to advance to Q2. In the second qualifying session, Van den Goorbergh could not improve his lap time but with a 1’35.380 he qualified eighth: the best qualifying result of the season. Baltus rode a 1’35.491 in Q2, just a tenth slower than his teammate. However, given the minimal differences in the Moto2 class, it meant he will be 16th on the grid on Sunday.
Zonta van den Goorbergh – P8: “I am happy with how it ended today. We had made some changes for this morning’s practice but unfortunately it didn’t work out as hoped. Our aim was to be directly in Q2 but that didn’t happen, the feeling wasn’t right and I was constantly on the limit. We then sat down together to make some big changes for the afternoon, otherwise it would be a very difficult day. That was risky but it paid off in the end with a P1 in Q1 and a P8 in Q2. It’s all bizarrely close together and I didn’t ride my ideal lap, but of course I can’t be dissatisfied with eighth position. From here we can have a good race tomorrow, although it certainly won’t be easy. I have not ridden that many laps with this setup but we will make the best of it, hopefully we can bring home a nice result.”
Barry Baltus – P16: “It was not a bad day, to be honest. It’s been a long time since we went to Q2 directly so that’s good, I am happy about that. In the end, the result in Q2 is a bit disappointing but in general, the weekend so far is positive. The feeling with the bike is improving so we are on the right way, we made a big step this weekend. Like I said, I’m not completely happy about the position but I am happy about the lap time. P16 is not what we want but it’s just a tenth difference to a place in the top six. It’s very tight in Moto2 but I’m happy and looking forward to do a good race tomorrow.”
Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “I think we can be quite satisfied today, we came out really strong. Barry’s sixteenth place may not show that immediately but the difference between the eighth and sixteenth position is only a tenth of a second. That’s how small the differences are at the moment in Moto2, it’s super competitive. After a somewhat difficult Friday, both riders put in a very strong performance today. Zonta’s eighth place on the grid gives a very good starting position for tomorrow, but the caveat is always that you have to survive the first lap. If both riders manage to do that then I expect them both to get good result.”
The 22-lap Moto2 race at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli will start as early as 11:15 on Sunday afternoon, an hour earlier than usual.