May 2017 - Page 2 of 2

The opening day of the Spanish Gran Prix has been quite difficult for the Reale Avintia Racing riders. The first 45 minutes session was rained out and with the weather forecast improving for the afternoon, Hector Barbera decided to sit the session out in the garage. Loris Baz took to the track and completed the full session in the wet in order to get a better feeling with his new bike and the result was positive.

In the afternoon, with the track drying but with some wet patches around the circuit, the riders went out with slick tyres. Loris Baz did a promising start and he was fast and strong until he crashed halfway through the session. He braked in a wet area and lost the front. This affected his confidence during the rest of the session and he was not able to make further improvements, but the Reale Avintia Racing rider aims to get his feeling back tomorrow.

For Hector Barbera, the day was even tougher. The Spanish Reale Avintia Racing rider continues to struggle with the front end feeling and he used the dry session to test different solutions on his bike and also worked on his riding style without looking at the lap times.

Tomorrow both riders will fight to improve during FP3 and FP4, to give the maximum in qualifying and try to get the best possible grid position for Sunday’s race.

“The start of FP2 was quite good. I felt comfortable and the bike was working really well, but I lost the front braking in a wet patch and I crashed. When I got back with my spare bike I didn’t have the same feeling and I sincerely think that my crew chief, Paolo or even my father would have been faster than me… I was joking, but to be honest, we need to forget the last part of the session and get the feeling back for tomorrow. This morning I did some laps in the rain to know this bike better in wet conditions. It was good and now we have a base set-up for a wet race, because I’m sure it will rain at some race during the season.”

“This was not the best way to start my home race. This morning I decided to stay in my garage, because with difficult track conditions I didn´t want to lose feeling after making a step forward in Austin. So I watched the practice from my pit. This afternoon the conditions improved and we got out to do some laps, but my problem remains. I have no feeling with the front and I’m not able to get the front tyre to work. We have to reset, these new tyres are really stiff and they need more pressure to work properly. We are going to try to change my position on the bike to put more weight on the front, and we will see if this works.”

Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz head to the Jerez circuit for the Grand Prix of Spain this weekend, the first race in Europe after three rounds in Qatar, Argentina and the United States.

Hector Barbera heads to his home race, where he will reach the milestone of 125 GP’s in the MotoGP class. He is looking forward to celebrate this record with an improvement of his riding style to get the maximum from his Ducati Desmosedici GP16. Following a difficult start of the season, Barbera wants to get back to the top places in front of his home crowd.

His Reale Avintia Racing teammate, Loris Baz, confronts the Spanish round determined to fight for a good result and to forget the DNF in Austin. The Frenchman was close to get in Q2 with his Desmosedici GP15 in Texas and he aims to go even faster in Jerez from the first practice on Friday.

“I arrive at Jerez eager to have a good weekend. I feel really strong after training hard during the last week. I’ve been working on my riding style and I like the circuit, so I look forward to jump on the bike and work towards the race with the aim of getting close to the front runners. The first three races have been tough, but I’m sure that working together with my team, we can come back stronger. We have the right bike and all the technology we need to reach our goal. We just need a good result on Sunday.”

“This is the first round in Europe and I look forward to start the race weekend. I always like to race in Jerez following the firsts rounds in Qatar and America. We have to wait and see how the tyres work. I hope to get the same good feeling that I had the last time, when we were testing there in November. If we can get this feeling from Friday, I think that we will be able to have a good weekend. I like the circuit and in Spain I always feel at home.”