Top 20 on the grid for the race

A01I0920

Tomorrow afternoon, just before the start of the race, the NTS RW drivers will take the places 20 and 26 on the grid of the Catalunya circuit. Hafizh Syahrin managed to improve on yesterday and just managed to finish in the top 20 during qualifying. For the Belgian Barry Baltus, with a 26e place, it was a minor disappointment because he had hoped for more. The race will also start at the unusual time of 2:30 PM, after the MotoGP race. Although this is the local time, it is the same as in most of Western Europe (GMT +2hrs).

A01I0766

After the third free practice session this morning, team manager Jarno Janssen knew it would be no easy task to finish in the top 20 or come close to QP2. “We didn’t make the progress yesterday that we hoped for from the test two weeks ago and then you know it’s going to be hard work on Saturday trying things out. A place in the top 20 of Hafizh is therefore not bad and when you see that Barry comes further forward every race weekend and thus manages to keep more drivers behind him, it is satisfying. We must not forget that this Belgian driver is still very young.”
 
Before tomorrow’s race, there is one last training opportunity in the morning and therefore the chance to make some changes to the motorcycles. And of course the goal for the race is to finish in the points for the third time in a row!

A01I1015