Fieten Olie Racing GP ready for historic 1000th Grand Prix at Le Mans

This weekend the fifth Grand Prix of 2023 will be held at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans, France. For Barry Baltus this is the closest thing to a home Grand Prix and the Belgian rider is keen to continue his form of the last few race weekends at Le Mans. Zonta van den Goorbergh had some physical problems during the race after a good weekend in Jerez but hopes not to suffer more this weekend.

The 4.19-kilometre Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans is part of the Circuit de la Sarthe, the circuit where the first 24-hour race was held 100 years ago. The Bugatti Circuit has nine right-hand corners and five left-hand corners, with the first corner at full throttle in sixth gear commanding the most respect.

The French Grand Prix will be the 1000th Grand Prix in history, the first having been held on the Isle of Man in 1949. With varying weather conditions, it will be a challenging race weekend for Fieten Olie Racing GP but both riders have shown they can be strong in all conditions.

Unlike most Moto2 teams, Fieten Olie Racing GP has decided not to take part in the test day on Tuesday after the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, so it can be used at a later date.

Barry Baltus: “I am really looking forward to the French Grand Prix as it is the closest to being a home GP. It is a track that I like a lot and last year I did one of my best races of the season there. I have great memories from Le Mans, now we hope that we weather is going to be better than it looks at the moment. I am confident and can’t wait to start working with the team again.”

Zonta van den Goorbergh: “During the race weekend in Jerez we were able to show some good things, unfortunately I faced some problems in the race. Hopefully we solved that so that this weekend in France we can show our speed even better, especially in the race. Either way, we head towards Le Mans with confidence for the fifth Grand Prix of this year.”

Jarno Janssen – Fieten Olie Racing GP team manager: “Le Mans is always a special circuit to go to. A lot of fans come to the circuit and the weather conditions are always quite tricky and changeable: the races therefore often become unpredictable. At Jerez we had a good weekend, although Sunday was actually a bit disappointing for both Barry and Zonta. Practice and qualifying were very good and we now need to see if we can carry this through to Sunday so we can also bring home a good result.”

After two practice sessions on Friday and a practice session on Saturday morning, qualifying starts at 13:45 on Saturday afternoon. The 22-lap race at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans will start at 12:15 on Sunday afternoon.