Van den Goorbergh scores two points for RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP at Mugello, Baltus 18th
The RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team takes home two world championship points after the Moto2 race in Italy. At the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, Zonta van den Goorbergh finished in 14th place in a shortened race while Barry Baltus crossed the finish line in 18th position.
On Sunday afternoon, the Moto2 race started 15 minutes later than scheduled and was run over only 2/3 of the original distance. Due to a red flag during the Moto3 race, the race distance for the Moto2 class was just twelve laps. In this race, Zonta van den Goorbergh and Barry Baltus started well after which the Dutchman kept up his progression to the front while the Belgian lost several positions again.
In the end, Van den Goorbergh finished in fourteenth place and scored two points. It is the fourth time in seven races that the Dutchman has scored points, which now puts him 19th in the world championship. Baltus eventually crossed the finish line in eighteenth place, failing to score, In the championship standings he is now fourteenth.
Zonta van den Goorbergh – P14: “We leave Mugello with two points and prior to the weekend that was the target. We made Q2 and scored points so in that respect the objectives were met. Of course, I had hoped for something more and I think it would have been possible. In the beginning of the race, Aldeguer’s crash cost me some time and as a result I lost connection with the group in front of me. Anyway, it wasn’t a bad race and now we have three weeks to look forward to the home Grand Prix. We’ve had some good races now so let’s continue that at Assen.”
Barry Baltus – P18: “It was not a good race and I was not expecting it to be like this. I started very well but after two corners I lost everything that I gained. I am quite disappointed about today’s race but it is what it is. We need to analyse why this didn’t go as planned. Let’s keep working and make some steps forward.”
Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “Before the race we had positive expectations but it turned out to be very difficult in the end. The race was shortened to twelve laps and then you know you have to push from the start. Zonta did well and moved up into the top ten, but later his lap times dropped a bit and the group behind him came closer. That cost him a few places but the positive thing is that we can still take home a few points. The fact that we have now managed to score in four out of seven races is an improvement on last year so we can be happy with that.
On the other side of the box, it still remains a bit difficult. It looked very positive on Friday but ended up being a tough day today. Barry is still struggling to handle the Pirelli tyres in the right way. As a team we are doing our best to support him as much as possible but he himself will also have to adapt. We now have a few weeks to reset ourselves and then we go on to our home race which is obviously very important.”
The next Grand Prix will take place on the weekend of 28-30 June at the TT Circuit Assen, the team’s home race.