Tough Sunday for Fieten Olie Racing GP in Misano as Pasini and Baltus score points, Van den Goorbergh DNFs

For Fieten Olie Racing GP it was a difficult race day of the San Marino Grand Prix. Wildcard Mattia Pasini finished tenth in his home race at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli while Barry Baltus scored one point in 15th place. Zonta van den Goorbergh did not reach the finish due to an early crash.

After an impressive Saturday at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Fieten Olie Racing GP went into race day with confidence. Starting from fifth on the grid, wildcard Mattia Pasini experienced a difficult opening lap and fell back to ninth place. In the laps that followed, the Italian lost more positions but midway through the race he made strides forward again. In the end, 38-year-old Pasini crossed the finish line in tenth place, ending an impressive weekend with a solid finish.

Barry Baltus also had a difficult start to his race as he dropped back to 21st position. The Belgian driver did make progression in the subsequent laps and as the race progressed he managed to make up positions. In the end, 19-year-old Baltus scored one World Cup point by crossing the finish line in 15th position.

Like his two teammates, Zonta van den Goorbergh also lost several places in the opening stages. Then, on the third lap, he was hit by another rider causing a big time loss. The 17-year-old Dutchman fell back to penultimate place before making a mistake himself and sliding under a lap later. It was a disappointing end to an impressive one for Van den Goorbergh.

Mattia Pasini – P10: “The race was a bit tougher than what we expected. The first part of the race was very fast and I wasn’t able to attack, that meant I lost a couple position. I tried to manage the situation and get the best possible result. In the end we finished inside the top ten which is a good result as a wildcard. Let’s see if this was the last one or not, I don’t know yet.”

Barry Baltus – P15: “It was a very difficult race and a disappointing end to the weekend. We started well with a good feeling but in the end it was very bad, we will have to find out what exactly happened. In the end we scored one point which is better than nothing but not what we wanted, of course. I want to thank the team for the amazing job they have done this weekend and now we focus on the next race in India.”

Zonta van den Goorbergh – DNF: “It’s very unfortunate to end the weekend this way. I felt very strong at the beginning of the race but on the third lap I was pushed aside quite a bit by another rider, I was lucky to stay on the bike. On the following lap I started attacking again as I had pretty much fallen back to last place. I first made an overtake in turn 8 and then another one in turn 14 before things went wrong in the last corner before start/finish, I think I asked just a bit too much of the front. It’s a terrible shame to end the weekend like this because it was clear what was possible given my lap times. It’s important to get a decent result for once so I want to apologise to the team. We know we have been strong in the past race weekends so in India we will go for it again.”

Jarno Janssen – Fieten Olie Racing GP team manager: “Obviously, this was not a good day for us. Zonta had a good start and was in a good place but in the first few laps it was ‘do or die’ from a lot of riders. We unfortunately fell victim to that and then you only come away with just one point as Barry could not get into his rhythm. It was a weekend with ups and downs, we had qualified well but didn’t manage to follow it up in the race. We need to take the confidence from what was done well this weekend, now we have seven overseas Grands Prix ahead of us. I think it’s good that we create a bit of calm around ourselves so the boys can fully focus on racing.”

The next Grand Prix will be held on the weekend of 22 to 24 September. That is when the MotoGP paddock will travel to the Buddh International Circuit in India for the first time where the first Indian Grand Prix will be held.