Month: September 2016

Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz finished 13^th and 18^th in a really difficult race for all Ducati riders. The lack of grip has been the main concern during the weekend, with the engineers trying to find the solution every day, without success.

Hector Barbera finished the race in the same position he started, but he was forced to recover during the 23 laps of the race, after touching with another rider in the first lap and dropping back to the last place. In the last two laps, he won an intense battle with Eugene Laverty and took three championship points to keep tenth place in the point rankings.

His teammate Loris Baz returned to action this weekend after missing the race at Misano. Avintia Racing’s French rider knew that the race was going to be really tough in his physical condition, but he has shown a big determination to finish the race and he got a vast experience before heading to the triple flyaway races, which will start in three week’s time with the Japanese Grand Prix.

HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 P13

“It was a difficult weekend and our main handicap was the lack of grip on the rear tyre. We tried to find more grip over the three days, but it was not possible. During the race I’ve been sliding all around the track and, without traction, the bike was not fast on the straights. Pirro touched me on the first lap and I was blown off the track. Then I had to recover during the race and it was difficult, but I don’t think the result would have been different without that incident. I hope Michelin will bring some new tyres for the next races, because all Ducati riders had the same problem here. It’s not normal to see Dovizioso just four seconds ahead of us.”

LORIS BAZ #76 P18

“It was a tough race from the first lap to the end. My target was to finish, to gather some data and to take this race as a training session. We finished far, almost twenty seconds behind Hector. He was one second per lap faster than me. I’m not physically fit enough to finish a race or even half a race riding these bikes, so today we did something positive. Now I have to work hard during the next two weeks, train with the bicycle and do some specific work for my leg. I’ll try to go to Japan, Australia and Malaysia in the best possible shape, because I love two of these tracks and I think it will be possible to get good results.”

Avintia Racing scored a bitter-sweet result at the Grand Prix of San Marino. Hector Barbera’s performance had been quite positive over the weekend, but the bad feeling he had during the first part of the race forced him to settle for 13^th place. Barbera scored three valuable MotoGP World Championship points today, and he is currently tenth in the standings with just five rounds to go. Next round will be in Aragon in two weeks time, where he is determined to get back into top ten positions.

His maiden debut in MotoGP has not been easy for Xavi Fores, who raced at Misano replacing Loris Baz. After 16 laps he was forced to retire due to arm pump issues in his right forearm. He struggled during the weekend to get used to the carbon brakes and a completely different bike to the one he rides in WSBK. This together with the mental tension made racing difficult for him. Baz aims to return to action in Aragon, but his comeback depends on a speedy recovery.

HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 P13

“It was a really difficult race. The feeling during the first laps was not good, and I was not able to brake well because the suspension seemed to be too soft for dry conditions. The front end was closing everywhere, and I was close to crashing twice and I had to support the bike with my elbow. But then, as the fuel got less, the feeling came back and my pace was faster. The problem was that after losing too much time in the first five laps, the group with Bautista, Petrucci and Bradl was too far away. The only positive thing this weekend is that we found back to the right direction and the way we used to be before Silverstone. Now we need to focus on the next race which will be on home soil.”

XAVI FORÉS #12 DNF

“My start was quite good, but from the second lap I felt a lack of grip on the rear tyre compared to the rest of the weekend, and my pace in the race was slower. With that feeling, it was hard to ride the bike and I had to be more aggressive on the brakes, which stressed the front tyre too much. But the worst part was the arm pump in my right forearm. I had two big moments because the front was closing, and my lines got wider and wider, so I decided that the best decision was to stop, as it was getting dangerous. It was a difficult weekend, but at the same time I enjoyed riding the Desmosedici a lot. If I got a new chance in the future, I would be able to get a better result with the experience I gained this weekend with the bike and the team. I want to thank the team for this opportunity, because it was an amazing weekend.”

The British Grand Prix weekend started bad for Avintia Racing and finished in the same way. On the first lap of the race, Loris Baz suffered a scary crash in turn two, when he touched with Pol Espargaró, and the race was red flagged. The French Avintia Racing rider lost his conscience and was evacuated in an ambulance to the Silverstone circuit medical centre. Fortunately, any serious injuries were ruled out after the X-Rays, Baz escaped from the crash with nothing more than a sprained right ankle. Tomorrow, he will have a head scan at the Geneva hospital in Switzerland, to make sure he has no concussion after the heavy impact. If everything is fine, Loris will be back on track next week at Misano.

Hector Barbera finished the race, but not in the position he would have liked to. He never was comfortable riding his bike during the weekend, and although he was twelfth in the final stages of the race, he lost two places in the last two laps and finished 14^th.

A weekend to forget for Avintia Racing, but the whole team is now looking forward to the next round of the MotoGP World Championship which will take place next weekend at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

HECTOR BARBERA #8 P14

“This weekend was a complete disaster. It was one of the most difficult weekends of my career. I was not comfortable riding the bike, I had no feeling and as a consequence, I never found the right confidence to push. Silverstone is a circuit with a lot of grip and I don’t know if it is my riding style or whatever else it could be that I never felt comfortable. I can neither learn nor take any other positive experiences with me from this Grand Prix. The race was also mentally tiring, because if you ride in such a poor way, the result is a disaster as well. We all had a frightening moment with Loris and the most important thing today is that he is okay!”

LORIS BAZ #76 DNF

“Up until the race, this weekend had gone quite well. I was very confident for the race and the crash was a really pity because I could have done well. When I arrived at the second turn, I was running parallel with Pol and just about to overtake him, but then the guys in front of us braked very early, especially Petrucci. I pulled over to the right a bit in order to avoid a collision, but Pol entered the turn from the outside and we touched. After banging into him, I don’t remember a lot of what happened. I woke just before getting into the ambulance. I don’t remember the crash itself, but the consequences could have obviously been worse because it looks pretty bad. I have a sprain in the foot that I was operated on, but they did an X-ray and I there is nothing broken, even though it hurts when I put pressure on the foot. The most important thing is that Pol, who also doesn’t have any fractures, and myself are all right. It was a race incident that shouldn’t have happened, but this corner is quite narrow. I don’t think I did anything stupid!”