Van den Goorbergh qualifies fifteenth in Barcelona, Baltus in 30th place
The RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team achieved mixed results in qualifying for the Moto2 class at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Saturday afternoon. Zonta van den Goorbergh qualified directly for Q2 and secured 15th place on the grid, Barry Baltus is having a very difficult weekend so far and finished 30th.
The race weekend in sunny Barcelona began on Friday with two sessions that Zonta van den Goorbergh finished eighteenth and Barry Baltus twentieth. Saturday morning it was decided which riders were allowed to go straight through to Q2 and with a nice twelfth time Van den Goorbergh managed to do so. Baltus finished 21st in the final practice session which meant he had to go through to Q1.
In that first qualifying session, Baltus did not manage to match his times he had set earlier in the weekend, forcing him to start Sunday afternoon’s race from 30th place. Van den Goorbergh started strongly in the second qualifying session but, because of a gamble, eventually had to settle for fifteenth place. Regardless, that is a good starting position for a race that will be very challenging due to track conditions.
Zonta van den Goorbergh – P15: “I am definitely happy with how today went, after a difficult day yesterday I am happy with how we handled today. We were very fast in the morning and were in a good position with 12th position in the final practice session. In qualifying we took a risk with the setup and it was my own choice to try it, unfortunately it didn’t pay off in the end. I knew I could go for the top ten with my setup from the morning but we wanted something more. Anyway, it didn’t go badly and we are in a good position. We will now go back to this morning’s setup and then do our best tomorrow.”
Barry Baltus – P30: “It was a very bad day today. I wasn’t able to do a fast lap in qualifying and in general it has been a difficult weekend so far. It is not easy but we will need to see what we can do tomorrow from this starting position. It will be a long race and we’ll just need to stay on the bike. It’s also not easy for the team and everyone involved but I will keep pushing.”
Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “I am very happy with how qualifying went for Zonta. The times were very fast this morning and he managed to go straight to Q2, he also held his own in qualifying with a nice fifteenth place on the grid. That gives great prospects for the race, if we can manage it well I think we can get a nice result with him.
On Barry’s side, things didn’t fall into place today. If you don’t feel 100% yourself then you can’t do much in the Moto2 class. We all have to work on that even though the rider is the one who has to do it on the bike in the end. Let’s hope he can ride a solid race tomorrow and get positive things out of it. It will be very important to finish.”
The 21-lap Moto2 race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will start at 12:15pm on Sunday afternoon.