No points for RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP in Aragón with Van den Goorbergh finishing P16, Sasaki DNF

Zonta van den Goorbergh finished 16th in Sunday afternoon’s Moto2 race at Motorland Aragón. The Dutchman held his position well within the top ten during the opening phase of the race but dropped back outside the points in the second half. Ayumu Sasaki also failed to score, as he crashed out on lap fourteen.

With an eighth place on the grid for Zonta van den Goorbergh and 21st for Ayumu Sasaki, RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP went into the 19-lap Moto2 race at Motorland Aragón with optimism. Just like Friday and Saturday, the Spanish circuit once again saw sunny and warm weather, promising a physically demanding race for the riders.

Van den Goorbergh got off to a strong start, holding onto eighth place in the opening laps and even moving up to seventh at one point. As the race progressed, however, the Dutchman gradually lost positions, eventually crossing the line in 16th place. Despite a positive weekend overall, especially with a strong qualifying performance, Van den Goorbergh leaves Aragón empty-handed.

Ayumu Sasaki also had a promising start, making up several positions and closing in on the top 15. Unfortunately, he crashed on lap 14 and did not finish the race.

Zonta van den Goorbergh (P16 / +18.658):
“In the first half of the race we were right up there, and that was important going into this weekend. In previous races I struggled in that phase, so this was definitely a step forward. In the second half, I ran into some issues which made things difficult. We’ve shown some good things this weekend, but it’s clear that this final result isn’t what we were aiming for. Now we’ll move forward with full focus on Mugello.”

Ayumu Sasaki (DNF):
“Crashing out of the race is a disappointing end to the weekend. My feeling in the race was positive and we improved it from yesterday, so I am happy about that. It has been a difficult weekend overall but we are close to the points, which is the most important thing. I feel sorry for the team because of my crash, but it can happen. We will focus to improve for the next race.”

Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP Team Manager:
“It ended up being a disappointing race for us. Things looked very good at the start with a strong opening from Zonta, who managed to stay connected to the top 8. His pace was solid, but after around ten laps it dropped off, and he couldn’t maintain lap times that would have kept him in P10 or P11. That’s disappointing for both the rider and the team.

As for Ayumu, we didn’t finish the race but did make another step forward. He put in some strong lap times and had good battles during the race. Unfortunately, he crashed — but that can happen when you’re pushing the limit. He needs to understand that and learn to control it, as it’s happened a bit too often. Still, there’s been real progress in the last few races, and that’s something to take with us. We’re already looking forward to the next race in Mugello — let’s hope things go our way there.”

The next Grand Prix will take place during the weekend of June 20–22 at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello in Italy.