Baltus secures seventh on the grid after a strong Q1, while Canet faces a comeback race.
Saturday at the Japanese Grand Prix delivered mixed emotions for the Fantic Racing team.
Barry Baltus confirmed his strong form: after taking second place in Q1, the Belgian kept pushing in the decisive session, closing qualifying in seventh position. A result that puts him in an ideal spot to fight with the front group tomorrow and aim for the podium.
A more complicated weekend instead for Aron Canet. The Spaniard suffered a crash on Friday that prevented him from gaining direct access to Q2. In Q1, together with the team, he tried some setup changes but wasn’t able to put together the perfect lap, eventually settling for 22nd place on the grid. For him, it will be a comeback race, but Motegi has often delivered surprises, and nothing is off the table.
Aron Canet: “It’s been a difficult weekend so far, yesterday’s crash affected my work a lot and today we couldn’t put together the lap we needed. In Q1 we tried some setup changes but I didn’t find the right feeling to go faster. Despite that, tomorrow I’ll start with the determination to recover and give everything: Motegi is a special track and in the race anything can happen. It will be important to stay focused and try to make a strong comeback.”
Barry Baltus: “I’m happy with today’s qualifying, even if our goal is always to start from the first or second row. After yesterday’s struggles, seventh place is a good result and overall it’s been a positive day. The team did a really great job, and starting from the third row gives us the chance to join the front group and fight with them. Tomorrow it will be important not to make mistakes and to bring home the maximum points before heading to Indonesia.”
Roberto Locatelli, Team Manager: “Qualifying was positive for Barry Baltus, especially considering that yesterday we faced some difficulties and both riders crashed. This morning we managed to improve and Barry delivered a strong Q1 that led to a solid Q2 result. With Aron, we tried to find some solutions to give him more confidence, but we couldn’t fully put him in the right conditions to be fast. However, we already have some changes ready for tomorrow’s race: it will be a bit of an uphill challenge for him, but the goal remains to bring him into the front positions, ideally within the top 10.”
