Category: MotoGP

Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz finished the first day of practice at Misano in 14^th and 15^th position.

The action started with some wet patches on the track after heavy rainstorms during the previous night and the first free practice session of 45 minutes finished with Barbera in 11^th place and Baz in 20^th.

In the afternoon with bright sunshine and the track in perfect condition, both riders went out to attack and improved their lap times greatly. The only flaw was that everybody else improved as well. In the end, the lap times were really close together, with the first 15 riders separated by less than a second.

Both Baz and Barbera hope to take another step tomorrow, with the aim to get in the top 10 and to secure a place in Q2, which would enable them to fight for a good grid position for Sunday’s 28-lap-race.

“In the morning it was difficult, I did not feel good with the bike and the track was not perfect. In the afternoon we improved a lot, but we still have the same problems with the bike. It does not turn very well and this is a problem for me when I do many laps in a row. So it’s not possible to maintain a fast pace, because I cannot keep perfect lines and go fast without destroying the tyres too much. The lap has not been bad, with my ideal time we would have been in the Top 10, but I still lack some confidence. Let’s see if what can do tomorrow.”

“It has been a very positive day in which we were able to get many conclusions and some ideas to improve. It’s all very tight and the proof is that I’m 15^th but only nine tenths from the first. I made a mistake on my best lap, so I think we still have a small margin for improvement. Tomorrow we will test one thing on the other bike that I think can help us on this track. Today I enjoyed riding, we are close and I think tomorrow we have many chances to move to Q2. I want to do well and I am very motivated.”

Reale Avintia Racing is pleased to announce the agreement reached with Tito Rabat, which sees the Spanish rider join the team in 2018. For the former Moto2 World Champion, the agreement means the return to the team with which he had once started in the World Championship. Rabat will be riding a Ducati Desmosedici GP17, a bike with which he expects to achieve great results in the premier class.

Tito Rabat’s World Championship debut was in Valencia 2005, riding for Raul Romero’s team. In 2006, he secured a seat for the whole season and one year later, he signed with Repsol Team where he raced for two seasons in 125cc. In 2009, Rabat returned once again to the Blusens BQR team of Raul Romero. In two years, he achieved two podiums and finished the season in the top six. In 2011 he made his debut in Moto2 with his team and thanks to his strong performance riding the Blusens-STX FTR, including his first podium finish in Indianapolis, he signed with Sito Pons team for the following season. In his second season with Pons and riding a Kalex, he got his first Grand Prix win and finished the season wit two more victories and seven podium finishes. In 2014, he moved to the Marc VDS Racing team, where he completed a perfect season to clinch the Moto2 title. He won seven races and got 14 podium finishes in a hard-fought season where his main rivals were his teammate Mika Kallio and Maverick Viñales. He went out to defend the number one on his bike in 2015, but even though he was always fighting for the top three and also got some victories, Rabat finished the season in third place.

Rabat stepped up to MotoGP in 2016 with Marc VDS and Honda. His adaption the premier class has been difficult, but in the current season, he improved a lot and scored points in many races. In 2018, he will be back home, with all the support from Reale Avintia Racing and Ducati to make the final step and get closer to the top MotoGP riders.

“I’m very happy to sign with Reale Avintia Racing and to race with Ducati in 2018. I think we have done a good job in two years with Honda, but I think that it is time to change. Now I have a new opportunity to demonstrate that I can be fast and competitive in MotoGP. I’ll be racing in a team that I know since my childhood and with a bike that I think will suit my size and my style to perfection. This is a great opportunity and I’ll make the best of it. I will fight and give it all to be successful. I want to say thank you to Ducati and Reale Avintia Racing for trusting in me”.

“Tito is like a son for me. He rode his first race for me in the Spanish Championship and he made his debut in the World Championship with my team. During his career, he raced in several teams, but always comes back home. After 125cc und Moto2, this is the third time Tito returns to our team and this time is in the MotoGP class. I’m convinced that this will be the pinnacle in his career and that we’ll achieve great results together with Ducati. Tito is a hard worker and this was his secret to become Moto2 World Champion. Next season he will ride a Desmosedici GP17, a bike that is on top of the classification with Dovizioso and that has been extremely competitive this year”.

The MotoGP World Championship returns to action this weekend at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. This weekend’s Grand Prix of San Marino will be the “12 + 1” race of the season and both Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz arrive highly motivated to fight for a top ten result on Sunday’s 28-lap-race.

Hector Barbera and Loris Baz are confident they can play a starring role this weekend even though the circuit has not been the best for Ducati in the past. Since Casey Stoner’s victory in 2007, the Italian brand has not won again in Misano. Nevertheless, both riders believe that their success will just depend on how the tyres perform on the 4,226km circuit.

“In this race, I hope to get my best result so far and to fight again for a top 10 position. Although it is not the best circuit for Ducati, Misano is a circuit that I like and where I’ve always been competitive. But we will have to wait and see how things go from Friday, because this year we see that the Michelin tyres are the key. If you think that a certain bike will work well on a certain circuit, you get caught by surprise because some other bike works even better. So I hope the Ducati works and adapts well to this track and that the tyres enable us to go fast from the first day”.

“I’ve been sick with flu in the last few days, but now I feel better and I really want to get to Misano. It will not be an easy circuit for our bike, but I still think we can do better than at Silverstone. We have to work on the bike set-up from Friday and try to improve every day to get ready for the race. It is always special to race in Misano, the atmosphere is fantastic and I really enjoy how crowded it gets on race day. Unfortunately, Valentino won’t be racing this year, but I think the circuit will still be full of people enjoying a great racing weekend. “

Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz left the British Grand Prix with valuable championship points after making a comeback from 16^th and 21^st place on the grid. The free and qualifying practice sessions had been difficult for the Reale Avintia riders, and this result is a good reward for the hard work of the team throughout the weekend.

Barbera had a problem at the start and lost many places, but then he was able to keep a constant pace that allowed him to catch his teammate and beat him on the last lap to score two points.

Loris Baz made a bet before the race, choosing the softer Michelin rear tyre. This was an advantage on the first few laps, but it made things difficult for the French rider in the last part of the race. He struggled with rear grip and he lost several positions. But he still scored one point after a difficult weekend.

“It was a strange race. At the start the bike moved as I put the first gear in and to avoid jumping the start, I stopped and restarted again. This cost me a lot of positions on the first lap and I was almost last. But then I started to recover and pass some riders. I lost too much time trying to get past Smith and Miller, and it was a pity what happened at the start as my pace today was fast enough to fight for a top ten finish. Now we have to focus on this base set up, because it is clear that I’m faster like that. In Misano we need to make another step forward.”

“It was a difficult race but at the end it was better than we expected. It was a risk to use the soft rear tyre, but it was the tyre with which I was more comfortable and it also allowed me to attack during the first laps of the race. Then I just tried to finish the race as the bike was sliding a lot in the righthand corners. When Abraham passed me, I tried to stay with him, but it was impossible, because with two laps to go the tyre was finished. On the last lap Hector caught me and I had nothing left to defend my position. I scored one point and after all the problems during the weekend, this was not so bad. I hope that we can return to the level from the last races at Misano.”

The second day of practice for the British GP has not been easy for Reale Avintia Racing riders. For FP3, the track conditions were not the best after some showers in the morning, and on a damp but drying track they were not able to improve and get direct access to Q2. During FP4, the conditions were much better and with the sun shining again for Q1, both riders improved their pace from Friday. But it was not enough and Hector Barbera will start from 16^th place of the grid, while Loris Baz will do so from 21^st, after they finished sixth and eleventh in Q1.

But although the position is not ideal, both riders are confident to be able to recover and grab some points in tomorrow’s 20-lap-race.

“As we could see yesterday I feel much more comfortable with the set-up from Barcelona. Maybe the bike works better with the one we have been using in the last couple of races, but the bike needs to be ridden in a different way and it wasn’t possible for me to do this me. Now I pushed my limit a bit further and I was faster immediately. The only positive thing today was that I lost just 0.3s to Alvaro (Bautista) ,who is the fastest rider on this bike. Redding was slower. Yes, he is ahead of me on the grid, but just because he got the pass to Q2 this morning. Overall I’m satisfied and I think that my pace is quite strong for the race. We must start well and then we will see where we can finish the race.”

“Today was really difficult. The track was not in the best possible condition this morning, but we didn’t go so bad. But in FP4 and qualifying, it was a disaster. We had to work just with one bike because of the mileage of the engines and with this, it was impossible to improve. The changes that we were testing didn’t work and as I had just one bike to evaluate these changes, we lost too much time in the garage. In qualifying I tried something that we had left from FP4 and this also didn’t work. But then I went out with my second bike for the last exit and my feeling was really good. I think that it was possible to do two fast laps, but I had a strange feeling with the brakes and we didn’t improve. No we are way back on the grid, but we have a good race pace and I am confident we will recover some positions.”

Reale Avintia Racing riders, Hector Barbera and Loris Baz, completed the first day of practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. This first day of action took place in surprisingly warm and sunny conditions in both the free practice sessions of 45 minutes, unlike the expectations of the English weather.

Loris Baz worked hard to improve his feelings with the bike in the morning, and in the afternoon he finished in 15^th place overall. The French Reale Avintia Racing rider is confident of making more progress tomorrow and to be able to fight for Q2, something he already achieved in the last two races.

The first day at Silverstone was not as easy for Hector Barbera. The Spaniard struggled in the morning to find a fast pace and together with his team he decided to go back to the set-up he used in Barcelona. The result was visible immediately and he improved his lap times, but not enough, so tomorrow he wants to keep working in the same direction and try to get the best possible grid position for Sunday’s race.

“I love Silverstone, but at the same time it is a difficult track. It is very bumpy and you have to be extra confident with the bike to go fast. This morning was tough, but we improved a lot in the second practice and I finished close to the top ten. It is a long circuit and everything is really tight. I missed the top ten by just three tenths. Let’s see if we can improve the bike tomorrow. It won’t be easy as this track features several long corners and this is where we suffer the most. We will start the day with the goal of Q2 and then we will see if we can do it.”

“It was a difficult first day. This is a circuit where I usually struggle to be fast, and we also used a wrong set-up in the morning. In the last two races we changed the settings to help me to change my riding style, but the results were worse than in the previous races, so we decided to go back to the set-up of Barcelona, where I felt comfortable riding the bike. It worked immediately and my feeling was much better. I was also faster than in the morning and I was able to get more feedback from the bike. But we need more time. I’m confident that we can improve the pace tomorrow and that we will be more competitive on Sunday.”

Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz head to the legendary Silverstone circuit for the twelfth round of the 2017 MotoGP World Championship this weekend.

Barbera and Baz arrive at the British Grand Prix determined to fight for a top ten result on Sunday, a goal that the French Reale Avintia Racing rider achieved at the last race in Austria two weeks ago. Barbera is still trying to get the best out of his Ducati Desmosedici GP16 and although he showed some progress at Spielberg, he failed to get a good result on Sunday.

Baz has mixed emotions when it comes to Silverstone. Last year, he had a terrifying crash on the first lap, but he also has some good memories from the British track and he feels strong to fight for a top ten result again in next Sunday’s 20-lap-race.

As usual at Silverstone, everybody will have an eye on the sky. Rain is quite common during the British Grand Prix despite the fact that the race weekend takes place in August.

“I go to Silverstone focussed on getting a good result. I see every race as an opportunity and now I have to take advantage of these opportunities more than ever. The team is working hard to give me the best package and they are supporting me all the way. We have not yet achieved the results we have been working for since the season began. This track suits my riding style and I think it will also suit my Ducati, so let’s go for it.”

“I love the layout of the fast and flowing Silverstone track, but my memories from the circuit are mixed. I had some good experiences at the beginning of my career and I also won twice in World Superbike. In MotoGP, things haven’t gone quite as well so far. In my first year, we had some technical issues and last year I suffered a big crash. But currently, we are in very good shape and we have been strong in the last few races. I will try to enjoy a circuit that I like a lot and the goal once again will be a top ten result. The circuit is very different from Austria and we will have to work on the set-up to make the bike turn better.”

Reale Avintia Racing rider Loris Baz finished ninth at the Grand Prix of Austria at the spectacular Spielberg circuit today. The 24-year-old French rider started the race from the fourth row of the grid following an excellent performance on Saturday, when he went straight in Q2 and was 12^th fastest in qualifying. After the start he gained some places and he battled for three laps with Andrea Iannone for eighth position. Baz was leading the second group during a big part of the race. With nine laps to go, he tried to get Alvaro Bautista under control, but the Spaniard had a better pace and Loris finished the race in ninth place.

His Reale Avintia teammate Hector Barbera struggled with tyre performance issues from the first laps. The Spanish started the race from fifth row, two spots behind Baz. He had a good start but lost many places after a contact with Pol Espargaro on the main straight. It took him six laps to recovered to 14^th place and he then started a big battle with Jack Miller and Scott Redding, but he struggled with rear grip problems and finally finished the race in 17^th place.

“I’m very happy with my race. It was difficult to choose the tyres before the start, because with the rise of temperature we didn’t know how the soft front would work in the race. I had a decent start, but I lost concentration a little bit when I saw Petrucci moving on the grid. The first lap was good and I was able to pass some riders. I lost too much time trying to overtake Iannone, but then I kept a good rhythm and I managed the gap with the riders behind me really well. Then Alvaro arrived and he was faster and I lost eighth place. But I defended my position from Mika’s attack on the last few laps and I’m happy for that. I think this was my best race in MotoGP, nobody crashed in the front and I finished less than 20 seconds behind the winner. My team did a great job over the weekend and this it the best way to celebrate my Dad’s birthday.”

“The rider who was in front of me got stuck at the start and I was forced to move to the left, but Pol came faster from the back and we had a big contact. We were lucky not to crash. Then I saw that he had to retire, I don’t know if it was because of the incident and if it was because of that, I want to say sorry. Then I was able to recover, I had a good battle with Miller and Redding, but after seven laps my rear tyre dropped and I struggled a lot with spinning. We don’t know why we had this problem, maybe it was because of the higher temperature that affected the tyre performance. But we didn’t have any problem during the weekend and it was strange”.

Reale Avintia Racing riders Loris Baz and Hector Barbera will start tomorrow’s Austrian Grand Prix from twelfth and 14^th place of the grid. Both riders were determined to get in Q2, but then it was just Baz who made it through with an excellent lap of 1’24.097 in FP3.

Hector Barbera was really close, but not quite fast enough. Later in Q1 he finished fourth just two tenths behind the fastest rider. It was a pity, because with his pace he would have been in tenth position in Q2. Nevertheless, the Spaniard is confident for tomorrow 28-laps encounter.

Loris Baz tried his best in Q2, but he didn’t have the same feeling from FP3 and he finished 12^th. Like his teammate, Loris is still confident for the race as his rhythm is good enough to be fighting for a top ten result tomorrow.

“Until Q2 the day was almost perfect, but then everything went the wrong way. I was not able to put all together on my flying lap, I went long several times and I couldn’t find the feeling I had with the front tyre in the morning. But I’m quite satisfied because we tested a lot of ideas to be faster, and that’s the good thing about going straight into Q2. Finally the lap didn’t come, but it is not a big difference to start from the third or fourth row. The most important thing is that we did a great job so far this weekend. We did more than 20 laps in FP4 to learn about tyre performance and we will see what happens tomorrow. My goal is to finish the race in the top ten.”

“I was really close but finally it didn’t happen. I missed Q2 by just one tenth. Everything is really tight and we have been pushing during the whole weekend. Today we went faster compared to yesterday and I was fourth in Q1, only two tenths from the fastest rider. I lose too much in the lefthand corners, but we have some ideas to test during warm-up. I’m confident to recover in the race because my rhythm is quite good. I believe that we can have a strong race tomorrow.”

Reale Avintia Racing rider Hector Barbera had a strong start to the Grand Prix of Austria today. In the morning, he was the fastest rider on track and his feelings with his Ducati Desmosedici GP16 were very good. In the afternoon, with the track drying out after a short downpour right before the start of the session, Barbera lost a few position. But the Spaniard hadn’t pushed for a fast lap and concentrated instead on refining the race set-up of his bike. The Reale Avintia Racing rider, who finished sixth in the combined free practice times, used only Michelin’s medium option rear tyre in FP2, because he wanted to keep the soft ones for tomorrow’s qualifying.

Loris Baz’s was just 0.3s slower than his teammate Barbera today, but the session was incredibly close with 16 riders in one second, which relegated the Frenchman to 14^th in the combined time sheets.

The goal for both riders tomorrow will be passing to Q2, which is crucial to get the best possible position on the grid for Sunday’s 28-lap race.

“It was a positive first day. In the first session we finished on top and this afternoon we have focused on the race set-up, using the medium rear tyre to work on the race pace and my feelings with the bike. Step by step, we were able to get some useful information. We did not use our soft tyres, because we wan to keep them for tomorrow. But I’m calm. I did 1’25.2 easy with the medium compound. In the combined times of the day, we finished sixth and I think the team has done a good job. We have to take advantage of a track that is suited well to my style and the Ducati. Tomorrow it will be important to move to Q2 and continue to prepare Sunday’s race.”

“At this track, everything is always really close, but overall I think that the first day was good. The bike works pretty well and I need to improve my feelings from Brno where the bike was difficult to turn. Here we have that problem in two corners, but we’re progressing in the right direction. We finished close to the top 10, but I went slightly long in one corner on my hot lap and I lost one tenth of a second. But I’m happy because we are working in the right direction and towards the race. Tomorrow we have to try to get straight in Q2 to get the best possible result in qualifying.”