Van den Goorbergh concludes solid race at Silverstone with points’ finish, Sasaki takes P17

RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP concluded the British Grand Prix on a positive note on Sunday afternoon. Zonta van den Goorbergh finished thirteenth in the Moto2 race at Silverstone, scoring points for the third time this season. Teammate Ayumu Sasaki was unable to convert a good qualifying position into points but made important progress over the weekend.

After a sunny and pleasant Friday and a changeable Saturday, conditions were once again challenging on Sunday at Silverstone. Following a heavy rain shower in the morning, the sun returned to the English circuit, but it came with strong gusts of wind. This made the conditions quite treacherous for the Moto2 riders during their 17-lap race.

Starting from twentieth on the grid, Van den Goorbergh quickly made his way forward and settled into the top fifteen. After breaking away, the Dutch rider spent much of the race alone, before having to battle again in the closing stages. Thanks to several solid overtakes, the nineteen-year-old eventually crossed the finish line in thirteenth place, earning three World Championship points.

Sasaki managed to hold onto seventeenth place after the start but then lost several positions. The Japanese rider struggled with the strong gusts of wind on the wide English circuit and ultimately finished in seventeenth position.

Zonta van den Goorbergh (P13 / +16,315)
“I am very happy with today’s race. We finished in the points again, even though it wasn’t as many as I had hoped for going into the weekend. In any case, we did well today, especially after losing almost all of Friday due to issues beyond our control and also having a difficult qualifying. There was a lot of wind today, and that cost us a bit because we had to come from far behind.

The first few laps went well and I moved forward quickly, but by then the front group was already gone. I overtook several riders, and once they were out of my slipstream, they couldn’t keep up. Because of the strong wind slipstream was extremely important, which is why the front group had such a big advantage. Holgado was one of those riders who dropped back once he lost contact with the group, and I was able to pass him in the final lap. That showed our pace was good today, and we’ll take that positive with us. We know what we need to work on, but I think we’re heading in the right direction again.”

Ayumu Sasaki (P17 / +19,489):
“I struggled more than expected today. The wind was very strong today and I didn’t have a good feeling with the front, the conditions were very different compared to the first two days here. I am disappointed because we had good speed this weekend. In qualifying I made a mistake and crashed, and in the race I couldn’t really ride how I wanted. I wasn’t able to bring home the result we deserved in terms of speed. It’s disappointing but we definitely made a step forward, and I am happy about that. We are still not where we want to be so we will continue working and improving. Hopefully we can arrive where we want to be in the next race.”

Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager:
“In the end, we’re happy to have scored points again today. The last few races were quite tough due to problems that neither we nor Zonta could do anything about. Fortunately, everything went well in the race today and he kept fighting, especially towards the end. Because of that, we were able to gain a few more positions, which is obviously very positive.

It was also a positive result for Ayumu, after a difficult start to the season with him as well. This weekend we made big steps forward, which should definitely help boost his confidence for the upcoming races. He was only two seconds short of scoring World Championship points, and that’s the trend we need to continue.

This Thursday, we’ll be at the TT Circuit Assen for a day of testing. This is in preparation for our home race in five weeks, but also to try out some things we don’t get the chance to test during a race weekend. I think it will be an important day, and hopefully we can complete a full testing program.”

The next Grand Prix will take place during the weekend of June 6–8 at MotorLand Aragón in Spain. This Thursday, May 29, RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP will be in action for a test day at TT Circuit Assen.