Month: October 2016

    Australian Mike Jones played a starring role today at the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, finishing the race in 15th place and celebrating his first ever MotoGP World Championship point. It was only the second race weekend for “Mad Mike” in the premier class with Avintia Racing, after taking the opportunity to replace Hector Barberá, who in return enjoyed two races with the official Ducati factory Team, replacing Andrea Iannone. After a good debut with the bike and the team in Japan, 22-year-old Jones did another impressive job at home, fighting to grab one point.

    Jones’ MotoGP adventure comes to an end after this weekend, as Andrea Iannone will be back with Ducati in Sepang, which means Barbera’s return to the Avintia Racing garage. The Spaniard was unlucky and crashed in the race whilst fighting for the Top 10 with local hero Jack Miller. But in the last two races riding the Desmosedici GP 2016, he gained valuable experience with the bike that he will race next season.

    The Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix was a nightmare for Loris Baz. He struggled during practice and qualifying to find the best set up of his bike in ever-changing conditions. His performance in today’s warm-up session was quite promising, but after just one lap in the race, the Avintia Racing rider was forced to retire due to some electronic issues on his bike. The Ducati engineers will check all the data to try to identify the problem and make sure it won’t happen again.

    MIKE JONES #7 P15

    “It is an incredible feeling to get my first World Championship point in MotoGP, especially here at Phillip Island, my home track and in front of my home crowd. I’m very, very happy and very excited. It was a really great race for me. I made a big improvement in comparison to Motegi, I got a much better start and I got away with the guys at the back of the field. All in alI, I was able to gain a lot more experience and improve as a rider on this bike. On Friday and Saturday, it was difficult due to the mixed conditions and today really was the only dry day, so I just got 30 minutes in the warm-up to get ready for a dry race. It was difficult, but thanks to everybody in Avintia Racing and especially my crew, I was able to learn quick and adapt to the bike. This weekend has been good, and all I can say is thank you!”.

    HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 DNF

    “It was a difficult race, because I was only able to lap in the dry in this morning’s warm-up and so for me all the race settings were completely new. After the start I made a recovery that took me into the group with Redding and Petrucci fighting for seventh place, but three laps from the end I made a mistake trying to pass Miller: I went too long, finished on the grass and crashed. It was really a pity, because today I tried to do my best, but it wasn’t sufficient. Again I’d like to thank Ducati, my team Avintia Racing, and everyone who gave me this chance. I didn’t have much luck but now I must look ahead and try and do better in the next two races”.

    LORIS BAZ #76 DNF

    “Overall the weekend has been tough for me. The first two days, the weather was crazy and we couldn’t really work on the set up. After the warm-up today I had some good expectations, as my pace was quite encouraging. But then we had some electronic issues and my race was finished after just one lap. It is a real shame because today I had the pace to fight for a top 12 result. Now I have to forget this weekend and think about Sepang, where I want to score a good result to boost my confidence ahead of the final round in Valencia.”

      Avintia Racing started the Japanese Grand Prix with high expectations, as Hector Barbera was rewarded for his good season and rode injured Andrea Iannone’s Desmosedici GP inside the official Ducati Team. After qualifying eight yesterday, Barbera was aiming at a good result in the race today, but he lost the front in turn one on the ninth lap, when he was fighting with Pol Espargaro for the seventh place. He picked the bike up and finished the race, but without any options for the point rankings. Next week in Australia he will have another chance to show his potential with the factory team.

      The race was not easy for Loris Baz either. He started from the back of the grid and although he improved his pace and reduced a gap of three seconds with Hiroshi Aoyama to just 0.8s on lap 19, he had to realize that he still isn’t in his best physical condition after two consecutive injuries. Finally, he was not able to fight for the championship point that seemed within reach in the battle with the Japanese rider. On positive result from this race is the fact that Loris got his confidence back, right in time ahead of the next race at Phillip Island, one of his favourite tracks where he did a great winter test.

      Mike Jones, who got the opportunity to replace Barbera this weekend, finished his first race in MotoGP. The 22-year-old Australian got 18th place and was really happy with the experience he had in Motegi. “Mad Mike” will ride Barbera’s bike at his home race in Phillip Island.

      HECTOR BARBERA #8 P17

      “For me it was a fantastic opportunity to ride the 2016 Desmosedici GP and race for a factory squad like the Ducati Team and so I want to thank both Ducati and Avintia Racing for giving me this opportunity. For me it was all new: in fact, I didn’t know either the bike or the guys in the team, but after every session the situation improved a lot. Unfortunately in the race I was not able to get a good start, especially because the clutch is very different to the one I normally use, and I immediately lost two positions. I took a bit of time to pass Petrucci and then I caught Pol Espargaro, who I tried to overtake several times, until I tried with even more decision and unfortunately I crashed. I feel bad about it because I think that today I could have finished in fifth or sixth place. In any case I picked the bike up to finish the race, but in the crash the two wings had broken off and I was no longer able to ride it well. However it was a great experience and I am very happy that I have been given another chance next week at Phillip Island.”

      LORIS BAZ #76 P16

      “I got my confidence back during the first ten laps. But when I’m riding the bike I feel that I’m on the limit, and then I see the lap times and I’m far away from the pace. One positive thing from today is that I gained a better feeling and my race pace was better than ever this weekend. Negative is that we are still far from where we should be. I also realized that my physical condition is not at 100%, because when I caught Aoyama, I had no more energy left. Now we go to Phillip Island, a track I love and where I was fast during the winter test. I’ll have some days to relax and train before the race, so I hope to improve and to be competitive again.”

      MIKE JONES #7 P18

      “I’m very happy and I can’t believe the experience of finishing my first ever MotoGP race. It was fantastic to be part of the Avintia Racing Ducati team this weekend. They worked so hard to help me learn so much, but definitely I gained more experience through the race. My start wasn’t very good. We tried a practice start in the warm-up this morning and I felt really, really good, but we changed the clutch for the race and when I went to do the race start it felt different, so I really struggled with the start. Once I got going, I tried to follow the guys in front of me, but I had a few small problems and I couldn’t get the bike stopped like in qualifying. But I just wanted to finish the race, no matter how, and I did it. I really want to thank Avintia Racing and Ducati for this opportunity and I hope to do it better at Phillip Island.”