Disappointing Sunday in Jerez for RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP

RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP was unable to score points on Sunday in the Moto2 race at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto. Zonta van den Goorbergh crossed the finish line in twentieth place at the southern Spanish circuit, while Ayumu Sasaki saw his race come to an early end in the twelfth lap due to a crash.

Starting from fifteenth place on the grid, Van den Goorbergh had a good starting position for the 21-lap Moto2 race at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto. However, a poor start caused him to drop back to 23rd position, making it a tough task for himself. After climbing back up to 18th place, there was little room for further improvement, and he eventually finished the race in 20th position.

Due to an early crash in qualifying, Sasaki had to start the Moto2 race in Jerez from the back of the grid, but he quickly made his way up to 19th position. However, in the twelfth lap, the Japanese rider’s race came to a premature end after a crash in Turn 1, leaving him still without points.

Zonta van den Goorbergh (P20 / +31.651):
“At the start, we had a problem which caused me to enter the first corner almost last. In the first few laps, I was able to attack and managed to regain several positions. Then I was nearly taken out in Turn 1, and from that point on it became a classic Moto2 race where you can’t do anything but follow each other, because the front tire gets way too hot and overtaking becomes impossible. This was not what I had expected at all. Our pace certainly wasn’t bad in the early stages of the race, so after the difficult Friday, at least we found something positive. We will take that with us to Le Mans, where it will be a different kind of weekend.”

Ayumu Sasaki – DNF:
“It’s a big shame to end the race with a crash. I felt quite good on the bike and our pace was decent, so it’s disappointing how it ended. Throughout the weekend we were improving the bike and I got more and more comfortable, which is the most important thing. There are more areas where we need to improve but we are getting closer to the front. We will keep our focus and don’t give up. We’ll try again in Le Mans.”

Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP Team Manager:
“It’s clear that this is a very disappointing day for us. The whole weekend was tough, only yesterday we managed to achieve a reasonably good qualifying result with Zonta. Other than that, it was very difficult, and that was also the case in today’s race. We were not able to make a real impact, which is very unfortunate. We have to stay positive and look ahead to the next race, in two weeks’ time in Le Mans. It’s important to learn from what happened here and make sure we come back stronger in France.”

The next Grand Prix will take place during the weekend of May 9–11 at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans, France.