RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP ready for the Texas Rodeo at the Circuit of the Americas

This weekend, the third Grand Prix of 2024 will be held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. After a very strong season start in Qatar, the race weekend in Portimão was a bit more difficult for Barry Baltus and Zonta van den Goorbergh. The riders and the team are keen to regain their form in the United States.

As the Argentine Grand Prix could not take place this year, the entire MotoGP paddock had an extra weekend off prior to the US Grand Prix. The 5.513-kilometre circuit has 11 left turns and nine right turns with the longest straight being a whopping 1,200 metres long. The elevation changes and corner combinations make it one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar.

In 2023, Barry Baltus was close to a first podium finish but a crash mid-race prevented this from becoming a reality. Zonta van den Goorbergh came close to the points a year ago at the hilly and bumpy Circuit of the Americas.

Barry Baltus: “I am happy to be back on the bike again this weekend. The Circuit of the Americas is a track that I like a lot, last year we were really fast there. I cannot wait to jump on the bike again on Friday and see what our level is. We need to improve compared to what we showed in Portimão. I feel confident and I am ready to fight.”

Zonta van den Goorbergh: “After a fairly long break, I feel ready to race again in the United States. It was quite a difficult weekend in Portugal but I think with our work over the past few weeks we will come back stronger from that. Over the past two years, I found the Circuit of the Americas to be quite a difficult track and it was difficult to get the most out of it there. However, it gives the opportunity to make a big step now if we can get the right feeling with the bike there, as we have had before.”

Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “After a longer break than expected, we head to Austin this weekend. It is a circuit where we have actually always been strong over the years. Last year we saw that Barry was fast there and Zonta was also able to show his good side. The expectations are therefore quite high and it will be good to pick up where we left off in Portugal. That weekend did show that achieving good results, like in Qatar, cannot be taken for granted and not every race will go according to plan. It is also an extra motivation for the riders to make the most of it again this weekend. I have good memories of the United States and hopefully we can create some new ones this weekend.”

After a free practice and two official practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas gets underway on Saturday afternoon at 13:45 local time, 20:45 Central European Summer time. The 16-lap race starts Sunday at 12:15 pm local time, 19:15 CEST.