Van den Goorbergh with strong pace from pit lane to P19 in Thailand, Baltus crashes
RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP ended an eventful Grand Prix weekend at the Chang International Circuit on a positive note. From pit lane, Zonta van den Goorbergh crossed the finish line in 19th position thanks to a very strong race pace. Barry Baltus did not make it to the finish due to a crash on the treacherous Thai circuit.
Starting from 25th on the grid and pit lane for Barry Baltus and Zonta van den Goorbergh respectively, it was going to be a tough Sunday for both riders anyway. Baltus rode a strong opening phase and climbed to 17th position before having to give up two more places. Finally, he crashed on lap seven, bringing an early end to the Thai Grand Prix for him.
Van den Goorbergh literally had to come from the back but his lap times were immediately comparable to those of the riders in the top ten. Thanks to this strong and consistent pace, he soon moved forward and was able to make up positions as early as the second half of the race. Just before the red flag was waved due to heavy rain, the Dutchman was riding in 18th place but was eventually classified in 19th position.
Zonta van den Goorbergh – P19: “I am very satisfied with the race I did today. It was a tough weekend, especially mentally after what happened on Friday. As a result, I started from pit lane and we still managed to have a good race. My pace was very good and we had agreed beforehand to inform me about the lap times of the top ten, later it turned out that they gave me the lap times of the race leader. I was surprised that they were so close to my own lap times, so that indicated that the speed was definitely there.
In the end, we moved up quite a bit and just before the red flag was waved, I was riding in eighteenth place, close to seventeenth. At the finish I was still nineteenth so that’s the final result, but I think we could have had a point if the red flag hadn’t been waved. That reward will come but we collected good information and didn’t give up, so I’m happy with how it went today. It has been a very learning weekend.”
Barry Baltus – DNF: “This wasn’t the weekend I expected, and definitely not the weekend that I hoped for. It was a very difficult race and after four laps the rhythm wasn’t there, I struggled a lot and was fighting with the bike. I don’t have too much to say, hopefully the feeling will be better next week. It’s a shame that I couldn’t repeat the strong weekend we had in Australia. We’ve been struggling all weekend so let’s look ahead to the next one. Also my apologies to Jorge Navarro and the American Racing team.”
Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “This was not the weekend we had hoped for. It started with the events on Friday and then you already know that the race is going to be a very tough one. Today’s conditions also made it very difficult with a bit of rain, but just not enough to really make it a rain race. Anyway, Zonta rode a very strong race today with very good and consistent lap times, which were good for a place between P10 and P13. It is certainly not easy to maintain focus and keep this pace in such a position. Unfortunately, the race was also red flagged two laps before the end due to weather conditions which meant that those two extra positions gained don’t show on the results sheet.
Barry had a reasonable start and was in a good position, holding out the prospect of the points. Unfortunately, he went down and that’s a real shame because I think we could have scored some points with him. Still, we go to Malaysia with a positive feeling where we have new opportunities.”
The next Grand Prix will be held next weekend, from 1 to 3 November, at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.