Van den Goorbergh to start from fifth row at Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez

Zonta van den Goorbergh qualified fifteenth on Saturday afternoon for the Moto2 race at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto. The Dutchman advanced from Q1 to Q2 and ultimately secured a spot on the fifth row of the grid. His teammate Ayumu Sasaki crashed early in the qualifying session and was unable to set a lap time, meaning he will have to start from the back of the grid.

This weekend marks the fifth Grand Prix of the 2025 season, held at the very well-known and sun-kissed Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto. Action kicked off on Friday, with Zonta van den Goorbergh finishing the day 21st and Ayumu Sasaki placing 26th on the timesheets. As a result, both riders had to take part in Q1 on Saturday.

During the Q1 session, things went wrong early on for Sasaki, who crashed at the end of his first flying lap. Consequently, the Japanese rider did not register a lap time and will have to start the Moto2 race on Sunday afternoon from 28th position on the grid. Van den Goorbergh, after a difficult first day, managed to deliver a strong performance in Q1, posting the second-fastest time and advancing to Q2.

While Van den Goorbergh couldn’t replicate the very strong qualifying results he achieved in the United States and Qatar, his fifteenth-place time secured him a spot on the fifth row of the grid. Sunday’s weather in Jerez is expected to be sunny again, with temperatures around 28°C, making the 21-lap Moto2 race a real challenge.

Zonta van den Goorbergh (P15 – 1’40.668 / +0,810):
“We’re on the right track. This morning I was still struggling quite a bit, but after some adjustments we made during the session, things got better. We had already made some changes after yesterday, so it’s been difficult to constantly adapt to that. In qualifying we managed to find a better feeling, which showed in the lap times during Q1 — times I managed to set on my own and that were good enough to get into Q2. In Q2, I couldn’t get everything out of it because I had a bit of a strange feeling with the front end. But we should see it positively — it’s the third time in a row we’ve made it to Q2, it’s step by step.”

Ayumu Sasaki (P28 – No time set):
“It was a very disappointing day as I crashed out on the first lap of qualifying. Our pace was better this morning and we fixed the problem we had yesterday. It was important that we made that step forward this morning and in the afternoon I felt good on the bike. Unfortunately, I pushed too much so I want to apologise to the team. I think we could have been close to Q2. The most important thing is that I felt quite good on the bike, so tomorrow we’ll try our best to make up positions. Hopefully we can have a decent race and come out of this weekend with more confidence, ready for the next round in France.”

Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager:
“Yesterday was certainly not an easy start to the weekend, and we made quite a few changes to be able to perform better today. Fortunately that worked out well, and Zonta definitely showed that with an excellent second-fastest time in Q1. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t take that extra step in Q2 to move a bit further forward, especially considering how small the time gaps were. Now, we have to prepare as best as possible because the race in Jerez is always long, tough, and challenging.

For Ayumu, unfortunately qualifying was over very early on, and that’s just something that can happen in racing. Of course, he’s the one who’s most disappointed about it himself, and I’m sure it won’t happen to him again. Starting from the very back of the grid will obviously be very difficult, but he just needs to focus on riding his own race and building confidence for the upcoming GPs.”

The 21-lap Moto2 race at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto will start on Sunday afternoon at 12:15 PM.