After a busy few weeks with two winter tests and the first Grand Prix of 2023 in Portugal, this weekend the second GP of the season takes place. At Termas de Río Hondo this weekend the Argentine Grand Prix will be held where Fieten Olie Racing GP hopes to continue the upward trend of recent weeks.
Barry Baltus had to miss last year’s Argentine Grand Prix due to a wrist injury leaving Zonta van den Goorbergh the only representative of the Dutch Grand Prix team. The Dutchman surprised then with direct placing in Q2.
This weekend Fieten Olie Racing GP will be complete again in Argentina after a long journey straight from Portimão. With a solid points’ finish for Baltus in Portugal, the goal for the Belgian rideres is to follow that up while Van den Goorbergh is still recovering from his illness he had last week. Given his previous performance at Termas de Río Hondo, the team goes into the second Grand Prix weekend of 2023 full of confidence.
Barry Baltus: “The long travel to Argentina went well and it’s the first time for me here. I am looking forward to go to the track and see what it’s like. Our goal is the same as last week, although it will be a bit more challenging because it’s a new track for me. If we work in the same way like we did last weekend and during the tests, I am confident that we can achieve a good result.”
Zonta van den Goorbergh: “After a journey of more than 33 hours we arrived in Termas de Río Hondo. Before boarding the plane, I felt really bad but things are already improving. Hopefully that will improve in the coming days and I can be fully fit again for the weekend which I am very much looking forward to. It went very well here last year but we shouldn’t dwell on that too long either, it’s a new race weekend now and I’m going to do my very best with the team to get a good result.”
Jarno Janssen – Fieten Olie Racing GP team manager: “We are in a bit of a rollercoaster from Portimão straight to Argentina for the second race of the season. It is a circuit we go to with a lot of confidence, especially as Zonta performed very well there last year. He went straight to Q2 so it is a circuit that suits him well.
For Barry it is a new circuit, last year he could not be there because of his wrist injury sustained in Indonesia. Fortunately, the track layout is not really super complicated to learn so we are confident he will manage this too. We showed last weekend what we are capable of, even if we were a bit unlucky with Zonta not quite fit. Despite the long journey, hopefully the riders have been able to get a bit of rest and we can be fully fit at the start next weekend.”
After a busy schedule of five test days and the first Grand Prix of 2023, there is no rest yet for Fieten Olie Racing GP. The team travels to Argentina on Monday to take part in the second Grand Prix of the year at Termas de Río Hondo next weekend.
After two practice sessions on Friday and another practice session on Saturday morning, qualifying starts Saturday afternoon at 13:45 local time, 18:45 Central European Time. The race will be run on Sunday at 12:15 local time, 17:15 CET.
