RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP ready to kick off the European tour with first stop in Jerez

This weekend marks the fifth round of the FIM Moto2 World Championship, taking place at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto. After Grand Prix weekends in Asia, South America, North America, and the Middle East, the MotoGP paddock returns to Europe for the first of fourteen European race weekends, twelve of which will be held consecutively.

The 4.42-kilometer-long Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto has been a permanent fixture on the Grand Prix calendar since 1987. With a mix of slow and fast left- and right-hand corners, two straights and several heavy braking zones, the southern Spanish track offers a bit of everything. The pecking order established in Jerez often provides a good indication for the rest of the season.

With points already secured in the United States and Qatar, Zonta van den Goorbergh heads to the southern Spanish circuit with confidence. The Dutch rider qualified on the second row of the grid in both weekends, demonstrating that the pace is clearly there. The next step will be to finish the races in similarly strong positions.

Ayumu Sasaki had a somewhat tougher start to the season, but during the practice sessions he showed that the results don’t fully reflect his speed. On more familiar ground in Spain, the Japanese rider will be aiming to score his first points of the season this weekend.

Zonta van den Goorbergh:
“We’re heading to Jerez and thankfully the journey isn’t quite as far as it was for the first four Grands Prix. The European tour is beginning and we’re going back to Jerez, where we already tested earlier this year. That test went well, so I’m curious to see what we can do. Step by step we’re getting closer, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Jerez has in store for us.”

Ayumu Sasaki:
“I am excited to start the European part of the season. The first four races have been quite tough, and we didn’t acquire the results we would have wanted, but we learned a lot from them. We return to the track where we tested during the winter, so I’m looking forward to race there again. I just want to have a solid weekend where we can build up our confidence and hopefully score our first points of the season.”

Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager:
“We’ve already had four Grand Prix weekends so we’ve been in the new season for about two months now, but Jerez always feels a bit like a ‘home race’. It’s the first in Europe, but already the fifth round of the season. We often test here too, so it’s familiar territory for all riders and teams. That means it’s going to be an exciting weekend where very small margins will make a big difference. It’s also a race weekend where we’ll be welcoming many of our sponsors, so we’re really looking forward to it.”

The race weekend at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto kicks off with the first free practice session on Friday morning, followed by the official practice session at 14:05 in the afternoon, which will determine the fourteen riders who go directly to Q2. After a second free practice on Saturday morning, qualifying begins at 13:45 in the afternoon, deciding the starting grid for the race. The 21-lap race will start at 12:15 on Sunday afternoon.