Fieten Olie Racing GP at full strength to Barcelona for Catalan Grand Prix

This coming weekend the Catalan Grand Prix will be held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. After Barry Baltus was forced to watch from the sidelines in Austria due to a foot injury, the Belgian will return to Fieten Olie Racing GP this weekend alongside Zonta van den Goorbergh who hopes to continue the positive trend he is on.

The 4.66-kilometer Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been on the MotoGP calendar since 1992 and features eight right turns and six left turns. In recent history, the Catalonia Grand Prix has always been held in June but this year, for the first time, it will be in September. Despite the weather forecasts indicating pleasant temperatures this weekend, rainfall also seems to be going to play a significant role in Barcelona.

Zonta van den Goorbergh had a good weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria with a direct spot in Q2 and a thirteenth time in qualifying, his best result in dry conditions so far. Unfortunately, the Dutchman could not continue this in the race but it is clear that a step has been made.

Barry Baltus started the weekend well in Austria but was then declared unfit by the Medical Director due to multiple broken toes. The Belgian rider has now had time to recover and – after hopefully being declared fit on Thursday afternoon – will return on Fieten Olie Racing GP’s Kalex Moto2 machine at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Barry Baltus: “After the disappointment in Austria I hope to be back racing again this weekend. The foot feels a lot better but we have to wait for the doctor’s decision on Thursday. Hopefully I will be declared fit so we can be back racing again after watching from the sidelines in Austria. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a classic track and I enjoy riding there. I feel confident and I am really looking forward to get started again. On Monday we will try the Pirelli tyres for the first time so it will be interesting to see the difference.”

Zonta van den Goorbergh: “After quite a good weekend in Austria I am looking forward to get going again this weekend in Barcelona, it is important to continue on the same footing. It will be two busy weeks with Barcelona this weekend and Misano next weekend right after but I’m looking forward to being back together with the team and riding the bike. We are going to work hard to be fast from the start and then try to be in a good position all weekend.”

Jarno Janssen – Fieten Olie Racing GP teammanager: “We are racing at a different time than we were used to in Barcelona so it also feels like a long time since we were last there. Because it’s now taking place in September some things may be different, including the weather conditions which seem to be going to be quite changeable this weekend. It remains to be seen on Thursday if Barry is declared fit but we are confident that it will be fine. Zonta had a positive weekend in Austria where he showed good progression, let’s hope we can continue that way this weekend.”

The race weekend in Barcelona begins with two practice sessions on Friday and one practice session on Saturday morning, followed by qualifying Saturday afternoon at 13:45. The 21-lap race will start at 12:15 on Sunday afternoon.