Month: July 2016

The treacherous conditions at the Sachsenring circuit prevented Hector Barbera and Avintia Racing from taking a great result in the MotoGP German Grand Prix today. After grabbing second place on the grid yesterday in dry conditions, Barbera showed during the morning warm-up session that he would be also competitive in wet conditions. After the start of the race, he was able to confirm the good feeling from the morning in the wet, and he was battling in the leading group. When the track started to dry, he pushed even harder to get second position behind Andrea Dovizioso and ahead of Valentino Rossi. With seven laps to go, Hector came into the pits to change his bike, and although his pace was also competitive in mixed conditions, he lost some precious positions and finished the race in ninth place. This is certainly still a good result, but a little bit bitter-sweet after fighting for the podium. All in all, the first half of the season was really positive for Barbera and Avintia Racing, with the Spaniard seventh in the standings and leading the Ducati squad.

Expectations were also high for Loris Baz before the race, as he showed a really good pace during the morning warm-up. But Avintia Racing’s French rider failed with the tyre selection for rain conditions, and once more when he changed bikes, so he was forced to stop again in the pits. Baz eventually finished 17^th, and the positive part of his return weekend is that his foot was not a problem during the race.

Barbera and Baz will now move to Spielberg for a two-day testing session at the Red Bull Ring, venue of the Austrian Grand Prix on August 12^th to 14^th.

HECTOR BARBERA #8 / @HectorBarbera P9

“It was a crazy race, but at the end we were unlucky. After 15 laps the track dried out really quick and I always struggle in mixed conditions. While it was wet, I did my maximum and we were in really good positions, but then, when I changed bikes, it was not so positive. In the first lap I lost too much time getting the feeling, and the pace of the guys who changed before was much faster. Finally, I lost many places. Overall it was a positive race, we were closer than ever to the front, and the team did a fantastic job during the weekend. Yesterday we took second in qualifying and today we battled until the end of the race. It was a shame because we were not able to show our potential with a good result, but ninth is not so bad. We were competitive on the wet and also in the dry, so it’s just a matter of time to get an even better result. Now we go into the summer break seventh in the championship and ahead of the rest of Ducatis, so we must be happy”

LORIS BAZ #76 / @lorisbaz P17

“The race was a disaster from the first to the last lap. The track was supposed to wet more, but it dried out. We didn’t have the best front tyre for these conditions and I had to take many risks because I had no corner speed. I went in to change the bike, but after one lap I felt that it was not possible to run the rear slick, so I stopped again to change for an intermediate. Then I realized that the track was drying more and maybe the slick was the best option, but the track conditions were changing so quick, that it was not possible to make the right choice. At the end my pace was not bad, but I already lost two laps and it made no sense to take any risk. The only positive today was that I had no pain in my foot riding the bike, even though right now the pain returned. Now we go to Austria for testing, and I hope to learn something that can help us in the second half of the season, because the first half was the worst one of my career”.

Expectations for the Spanish Grand Prix were high after the great performance showed by the Avintia Racing riders during qualifying practice. But the higher temperatures today changed the track conditions completely and Hector Barbera was not able to fight for a better result and finished the race in tenth place. It is certainly a positive result still and well within the targets set by the rider and the team, but not enough to make Hector happy after his strong pace during practice and qualifying. Nevertheless, the Avintia Racing rider leaves Jerez  with eighth place in the championship standings, only five points behind the fifth. After four races, he still is the best Ducati rider.

For Loris Baz, once again the race was not easy. Like at the last race in Texas, another rider hit him on the first lap, and although he managed to stay on his bike this time, he dropped back to last place. But the young Frenchman made a great recovery to finish the race in 13^thposition, taking championship points for the second race in succession. In two weeks he’ll race at home and he hopes to finish higher up.

HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 / @HectorBarbera P10

“This was a very difficult race. The weekend had been almost perfect and we did a great job so far, which makes this tenth place a little disappointing. The track condition changed completely for the race and from the second lap onwards, I struggled with the traction control that was cutting too much power. I tried all the mappings I had for the race, but non of them worked and, even leaned over, the bike was cutting power, so I was losing time on every corner exit and I was not able to attack in the braking points. I was not comfortable riding the bike and I’ve been fighting the whole race. We continue adding points and this is the most positive, and despite our problems, we are still in the top ten. To be honest, our real position is between fifth and tenth, but we have to go one step back with the electronics, because we changed something in Argentina and it’s clear that it doesn’t work.”

LORIS BAZ #76 / @lorisbaz P13

“Today it was important to finish the race, but once again I was close to crashing on the first lap, when Redding blew me off the track. When I came back I was last, and on the next lap, I made a mistake and I went wide again. I lost too much time and with these two problems, I had to change my race strategy. We chose the soft front tyre and the plan was to save it during the first part of the race with  a full tank, but I was forced to recover and the tyre was really bad at the end, so the last few laps were very difficult. Positive is that we took three points and we learned a couple of things that we will change for the next races. The season started here for us and I want to use this experience to get a better result at Le Mans.”

Avintia Racing rider Hector Barbera finished ninth after a hard 21-lap-race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas today. He improved lap by lap from the 14^th place of the grid to be fighting for the seventh position with Pol Espargaro and Michele Pirro. But he had a big moment in the final laps that put him out of the battle, but this was still a positive result and the third top ten in succession for the Spanish rider.

Loris Baz had a great start from the third lane of the grid but he suddenly crashed out on the second lap after another rider touched him in the first turn. The French Avintia Racing rider went back on track with his bike damaged, but he managed to bring it home in 15^th position and get his first point of the season after crashing in Qatar and retiring in Argentina.

Overall the start of the MotoGP World Championship has been positive for Avintia Racing, with Barbera always in the top ten and sixth in the standings before heading to Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix in just two weeks time.

HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 / @HectorBarbera P9

“This was a difficult weekend and every day was getting more complicated. Maybe I came here with high expectations after the fifth place in Argentina, and I think this was not good for us, because during the whole weekend I didn’t work as I had to. So we arrived at the race today eager to race, but maybe with some unfinished homework. This is a very physical circuit and I suffered with my forearm; after five laps I had a lot of pain. Finally I could make up the weekend with another top ten finish and, although this is not relevant, we are the first Ducati and sixth in the standings after three races.”

LORIS BAZ #76 / @lorisbaz P15

“I did a good start and I was in the right group, but on the second lap, when I was passing Bradl, someone came from the inside and hit me. I tried to lift the bike, but I crashed. I don’t know who did it, I hear maybe Bautista, but this is racing. It was difficult to finish the race without shifter, one centimetre footpeg, and damaged swingarm, but I did it for my team and my mechanics after such a good weekend. It was hard and I had some pain in my shoulder, but even though, my pace was not so bad.”

The riders of Avintia Racing had a difficult weekend at Mugello. Héctor Barberá and Loris Baz had arrived with high hopes and lots of anticipation at the Grand Prix of Italy and the home track of Ducati, but from the first day, things didn’t go the way as planned and Sunday wasn’t any different. Héctor Barberá finished the race in twelfth position and took some valuable points again, but was outside the top ten for the first time this season. Nevertheless, the Spaniard defended his eighth place in the world championship classification.

Team-mate Loris Baz ran into bad luck when he was taken out by another rider in the first corner of the race. In the incident, Baz suffered multiple fractures and dislocations in his right foot and will have to go undergo surgery in Switzerland next week. After the examinations in the circuit hospital, Dr. Xavier Mir, Medical Director of MotoGP, confirmed that Loris suffered dislocations of the five metatarsophalangeal joints in his right foot, and diaphyseal fractures of four toes in the same foot. While Baz was still in the circuit hospital and under anesthesis, the dislocations were set and on Tuesday, he will be operated in the hospital La Tour at Meyrin/Geneve, where Dr. Finn Mahler, director of sport medicine, will insert plates to fix the multiple fractures in his right foot. At the moment, it is unclear whether Baz will be able to start at the upcoming Grand Prix of Catalunya. Everything will depend from his recovery after the surgery.

HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 / @HectorBarbera P12

“This was a weekend to forget. Everyday things got more and more difficult and we were not able to show our real potential. I don’t know if its good or bad, but my crew chief says that I have to realize that we are racing with a two year old bike, and we are doing the same lap times that the factory team did in the past. It’s difficult to go more on the limit than the factory team and we have reach the same lap times or even improved them. It’s clear that my rivals have better machinery and to beat them in fast tracks like this is almost impossible. At the end of the day, we finished another race and we still the best Ducati in the standings, something that we could not even dream with when we started the season. We can’t do more with the bike we have and I think that the team and myself deserve to have a chance, because we always want more.”

LORIS BAZ #76 / @lorisbaz DNF

“The race was incredible short for me. I did a good start but it was a lot of traffic on the inside and it was difficult to overtake in the first turn, so I decided to get the outside line, but suddenly someone hit me and I crashed. From the first moment I realized that my foot was broken. I got fractures on the second, third, fourth and fifth metatarsus, and a displacement on the first one. I got set the first one at the circuit medical centre and I will go to the hospital at Geneve on Tuesday to fix the rest. I don’t know How long will take the recovery because is a difficult place and can swell a lot. I will follow the doctor instructions because I don’t want to come back soon and take risks for the next races. More than the race I’ll be disappointed if I can do the test on after the race in Barcelona, because I really need it.”

Avintia Racing rider Hector Barbera was very optimistic for today’s Catalan Gran Prix after his fantastic fourth place in qualifying yesterday. The start was not great and he lost some places during the first lap, but when he started to find his pace, the rear tyre started to lose grip and he had to fight with his bike in every corner until the end of the race. Barbera crossed the line tenth, but afterwards was penalized with one place because he cut the new chicane on the last lap. The positive result of this race is that the Spaniard is still eight in the World Championship standings after seven rounds.

Michele Pirro, who was replacing Loris Baz in Barcelona after the injuries sustained by the French rider at Mugello, suffered the same grip problems as Barbera during the race. Ducati’s test rider finished the race 15^th, but he thinks that working a little bit more with the electronics the GP14.2 has the potential to fight for the ‘Top 10’ in every race.

Hector Barbera will have a one day test tomorrow in Barcelona and he hopes to find something that will help him to battle for better results in the next races.

HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 / @HectorBarbera P11

“This is not the result I was expecting today after what we achieved yesterday. The race was very difficult because of the tyres and after six laps I had no grip at all, the bike was spinning a lot and the traction control was working everywhere. In these conditions the bike was not working like yesterday and I had to slow my pace. The lack of grip was increasing lap by lap and the bike became unrideable. I was patient and I tried my best to get the bike back to the garage, but I was more than five seconds slower compared with yesterday. We’ll try to find something in the test we have tomorrow, but I think that we need some help from Michelin.”

MICHELE PIRRO #51 / @pirrorider P15

“The race was really difficult because I had no grip and the rear was spinning a lot. With this problem, it was impossible to get a better result. I also lost some time in the first few laps and with the lack of grip the race became more difficult. We knew that it would be difficult, but I expected a better result today. I want to thank the team for this race again, we worked really well during the weekend. Overall I think that working more on the electronics, the package has the potential for ‘Top 10’ finishes in every race.”