Van den Goorbergh qualifies in 18th after leading Q1 at tricky Motorland Aragón, Baltus 22nd on the grid
Zonta van den Goorbergh qualified in 18th place in the Moto2 class at Motorland Aragón on Saturday afternoon. The Dutchman managed to get through Q1 to Q2 but was then unable to improve his lap time any further. Barry Baltus qualified in 22nd for the Aragon Grand Prix.
Prior to this twelfth Grand Prix of 2024, there were still many questions regarding the newly resurfaced Motorland Aragón. Because this work was only recently completed, the asphalt does not yet offer much grip and track conditions, especially outside the racing line, are far from ideal.
After the track conditions were not good on Friday morning, they improved during the day. Under bright sunshine and warm temperatures, Zonta van den Goorbergh rode the 16th fastest time in the afternoon and Barry Baltus ended the first day in 18th place.
It had rained heavily during the night from Friday to Saturday, washing all the rubber off the track and also leaving a lot of dirt on the asphalt. Also, the tarmac was not yet dry so the lap times could not be improved further, this meant that Van den Goorbergh and Baltus both had to go to Q1.
Baltus came to the eighth fastest time in this session which qualified him 22nd for the Moto2 race on Sunday afternoon. Van den Goorbergh managed to clock the fastest time in Q1, allowing him to advance to Q2. Unfortunately, the Dutchman could not improve his lap time any further, leaving him eighteenth on the grid.
Zonta van den Goorbergh – P18: “I’m still a bit disappointed with today’s qualifying. This morning we chose not to ride because the track conditions were not good and we didn’t want to take too much risk. In the afternoon the conditions were better and in Q1 we had a good pace right away. There were many strong riders in Q1 so it was not a given that we could go through to Q2. That we eventually managed to set the fastest time in that session showed that the feeling was good and the pace was there. In Q2, unfortunately I didn’t have the same feeling with the bike so I couldn’t improve further. There was more in it than the 18th position so that’s a bit frustrating but we can’t turn it back. Now we will focus on tomorrow’s race.”
Barry Baltus – P22: “This morning the conditions were very tricky. We couldn’t improve our lap time to get a direct place in Q2 so it was a case of just riding for us, in the wet conditions my feeling was quite good. In qualifying I did only four laps but I could find my rhythm straight away. In the second run I managed to improve my lap time and in the end we were not far from a place in Q2. We have worked well so far this weekend so now we need to ride a good race.”
Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “Zonta’s first qualifying session was very strong, to be fastest in it was a great achievement. Unfortunately we couldn’t get it together in the second qualifying session, which is why we are eighteenth. We will have to work very hard as a team to make strides in that area because this is a shame. Zonta has the speed and he is the one who has to do it on the bike but everything around it has to cooperate. From the eighteenth place on the grid it will not be an easy first lap, especially in Turn 1 you need a bit of luck. Either way, we have a lot of confidence for tomorrow’s race.
Barry was very strong in the beginning of qualifying but he didn’t get another lap together after that. As a result, it was not good enough for Q2 and a 22nd place on the grid is not what we were hoping for. However, there’s no man overboard yet and we will do everything we can tomorrow to get a good result.”
The 19-lap Moto2 race at Motorland Aragón will start at 12:15 on Sunday afternoon.