After a superb start of the weekend yesterday, Reale Avintia Racing rider Hector Barbera was confident about getting in Q2 and fighting for the first twelve places of the grid. He pulled all strings and used two soft rear tyres in FP3, but missed out on his goal by fractions of a second. Luckier was his teammate Loris Baz, who clocked tenth fastest in FP3 and went straight to Q2.
With just one soft Michelin rear tyre left for Q1, Barbera had only one shot at getting through to Q2, but his last effort didn’t work out either and he will now start tomorrow’s 22-lap race from the sixth row of the grid in 16th place. Nevertheless, the Spaniard is still confident and he hopes to recover in the race, no matter if the rain forecast is correct or if it will stay dry for the race.
Loris Baz went into Q2 very motivated, but he was not able to string a fast lap together and after two attempts he finished twelfth. Like Barbera, the Frenchman prefers a wet race tomorrow, because both Reale Avintia riders showed on Friday that they can be very competitive in the rain.
“It is always positive to be inside the top 12 and even more when you do it in dry conditions. When you get straight in Q2, it is always easier and although I would like to be one row closer to the front, it was not possible to go faster today. It was too hot and the issues we had in the morning increased with the heat. But anyway I’m happy and I’m looking forward to race. We are not so bad in dry conditions, but obviously I would prefer a wet race. I have very good memories from last year when I finished fourth and I’m highly motivated for the race, as this bike is incredible to ride in wet conditions.”
“It was a shame, because yesterday we were very strong and today we had the pace a well. In FP4 we were fast and consistent, but we wasted one soft tyre this morning trying to get in Q2. We missed that tyre in the afternoon because we just had one left. Things didn’t work as we expected and the bike had a lot of chatter. But we won’t give up, me and my team are highly motivated and we are determined to start the second half of the season stronger. I’m working had to adapt to this bike and tomorrow we will fight in the race to recover and score good championship points. Our goal will be the top ten in dry conditions, but if it rains, everything can happen. We will see what we can do tomorrow.”
