Category: MotoGP

The Reale Avintia Racing Team arrived in the Czech Republic eager to start the second half of the season on the right foot. On Friday, Hector Barbera had a great start and seemed to be set for a good weekend. On Saturday, Loris Baz got straight in Q2 and although Barbera failed his attempt, both riders were confident for the race. Rain would be a big help for them, because both had showed their speed in these conditions many times, and last season they achieved one of the best result for the team in MotoGP at Brno.

But in the race, both Reale Avintia Racing riders were unlucky. The rain stopped before the start and then both riders had problems when they came into the pits to swap their bikes. Hector had to come in again when he felt something was wrong with his bike and after two stops all chances of scoring points were lost. Loris hit one of his mechanics swapping bikes, but fortunately he was uninjured. Then he started to recover and was eleventh, but he lost three places later one and crashed out with six laps when he pushed to catch Jack Miller.

The MotoGP World Championship now heads to Austria next week for the eleventh round.The Reale Avintia Racing riders look forward to move on to Spielberg and put the Brno weekend behind them with a good result.

“It was an up and down weekend. At some stages we seemed to go the right way, but then we got lost again. The race today was really difficult and nothing went as planned. The rain stopped before the start and it was like playing lottery. I decided to swap bikes early as I could see very quickly that the track was ready to go with slick tyres, but when I went out again something was wrong with the bike and I had to stop again. With two pit stops, the race was over for me. We had some positive aspects this weekend, the team is highly motivated and everybody wants to leave this unlucky string of races behind. Next week we have another opportunity and this time, we have to do our best on a track that suits my Ducati very much!”

“It was difficult to make the tyre choice before the start. We always leave the bike with its rain settings when the track is damp and after a few laps we change for the second bike with dry settings. But the problem today was that the track was already dry on the first lap and it was time to pull in and swap the bike, but I had to wait until the bike was ready. I ended up coming in when most of the others did the same and during the change, I tore one of the mechanics to the ground. Leaving the pit lane, I was thinking of what just happened and I almost fell myself. I needed a couple of laps to find back to my concentration, but then I rode on in my normal pace. But this bike is difficult: We can do a single fast lap, but to strong many fast laps together is tough. It’s hard to get the bike to turn, we have a lot of chatter in the front and things get worse as the tyres wear off. I pushed a lot trying to catch Miller and I crashed. It’s a shame, but this is racing!”

The MotoGP World Championship heads to the red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend. Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz arrive at the track of Spielberg keen to overcome last weekend’s difficult race at Brno with a strong result. The Austrian circuit suits the characteristics of the Ducati to perfection, as it’s layout it is a sequence of long straights linked by fast and short turns, where the Desmosedicis can show their full potential.

Barbera has a pending debt with the Austrian track. Twelve months ago, he had one of his best weekends in MotoGP. But on race day, he jumped the start, didn’t complete the “Ride Through” penalty imposed by Race Direction, and was disqualified whilst running seventh in the leading group. This time he is determined not to fail and to take advantage of the powerful engine of his Desmosedici GP16.

His Reale Avintia Racing teammate, Loris Baz, has good memories of Austria, because despite starting the race from the last position of the grid, the Frenchman made a good comeback that took him to 13^th place. This year he hopes to qualify better and his goal on Sunday will be to finish in the ‘Top 10’.

“We come to a circuit that I really like and on which we went very well last year. It was probably the best race weekend since I’m in MotoGP. During the first few laps we were with the front runners and although I was disqualified in the end because of a jump start, my feelings were very good throughout the weekend. It is obvious that the Ducati works very well in Austria. The team is pushing more than ever and I’m physically well after having trained hard during the break, so this time we have to seize the opportunity to leave the bad streak of this season behind.”

“To be honest, the track is not one of my favourites, but it’s true that its layout is very good for the Ducati. There are only few long corners and that should be good for us, because the bike does not turn very well and in this kind of corners where you go at big lean angles for a long time, we suffer more chatter. I hope to work well from Friday to be able to get in Q2 again and to have a good weekend to make up for the race of Brno. Last week we missed an opportunity to do well, but in Austria I hope everything works from Friday and we can fight to be in the top ten on Sunday.”

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 16^th 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.”

After a long summer break, the MotoGP World Championship restarted today at Brno with free practice for the Czech Grand Prix. Hector Barbera showed that his hard training during the break was useful and he was fighting at the front in both practice sessions today in wet and dry conditions. The Spanish rider of Reale Avintia Racing was leading both sessions for a while and eventually finished eight in FP1 and fifth in FP2. This was a great way to start the second half of the season.

It was also a positive day for Loris Baz who was able to test the performance of his right arm after undergoing surgery three weeks ago. The 24 year-old Frenchman used the morning session to complete a race distance and evaluate the performance of the Michelin wet tyres with positive results. In the afternoon, the track dried out quickly and Baz declared himself satisfied with his dry pace, although he still needs to improve his confidence for the front end over the bumps and push harder tomorrow to get the best possible grid position.

“Today was a good day and we were fast in all conditions. In the morning we finished eight in the wet, but my feelings were really good and I was leading the classification for a long time. With the asphalt half wet and half dry, things didn’t go too bad either and I was close to the top 10 even though I don’t like these conditions. The track finally dried out and we showed our pace. We were fighting at the top and I was fifth at the end of the session. We still have many things to change, but the bike is fast and so is the rider who has to oush it to the maximum. I had no holidays in the summer break, for me it was like a winter training and I start the second half of the season with full batteries. It was only the first day, but me and my team are strong and I think that we can have a great weekend.”

“Best news today is that I had no problems with my arm. We worked a lot this morning on the race pace in wet conditions, as rain is foreasted for Sunday and it’s important to know where we are. It was also important to know if we can make the race with Michelin’s soft wet tyre, as they had some issues last season. In the afternoon the track dried out and our pace was not bad. I still lack confidence in the front and I also lost some tenths on my fastest lap behind Iannone. We have to keep working on the front end of the bike to improve and fight for the top 10 tomorrow.”

After a four-week break, the MotoGP World Championship returns to action this weekend with the Czech Grand Prix. Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz head to the Brno circuit in good shape and look forward to start the second half of the season.

There were no holidays for Hector Barbera, who was training every single day since the last race. He did a lot of cycling, motocross and also spent some days riding a jet ski. The Spanish Reale Avintia rider heads to the Czech Republic very motivated and hopes to start the second part of the championship with a strong result.

Loris Baz made the best possible use of the summer break to solve his arm pump problems. The issues with his right arm had affected his performance in the first half of the season, but are now a thing of the past. After surgery and a short rehab period, Baz confirmed the success of the treatment riding his Ducati Panigale Superbike on a track day at Valencia circuit, and also rode his motocross bike to put his right arm to the test. Like his teammate Barbera, Baz expects to be fighting for the ‘Top 10’ this weekend at Brno. The odds are in favour of the Reale Avintia riders, who both rode a superb race last year finishing in fourth and fifth position.

“I had no holidays. I’ve been training every day to get ready for the second half of the season. I improved in all areas and I head to Brno completely ready and eager to race. I hope to reward my team and sponsors with a good result for all their support, because the first part of the year has been a nightmare and nothing went as we expected. I have no doubt that in the next races we will change this situation and turn things around. I like Brno and it is a good track for the Ducati, so I’ll give my best to make sure I keep my seat.”

“The holidays were good, but too long! But I’m happy because we fixed the arm pump problems and I had enough time to recover. I’ve been testing my arm and now I have no pain any more. I was able to do some laps in Valencia with the Panigale and I also did some days of motocross and supermoto to make sure the arm is ready… and everything was perfect. I’m looking forward to start the second part of the season and see how the arm reacts riding my bike, because riding the MotoGP bike will be the real test. In the first races, arm pump has been an issue, so now without this problem and if we keep working in the same line, we can achieve great results in the second half of the season.”

Reale Avintia Racing rider Loris Baz underwent successful arm pump surgery today in his right arm. The operation lasted 40 minutes and was carried out by Dr. Olivier Dufour at the Hospital d’Aix en Provence, France.

Loris Baz has been struggling with this problem in his right arm from the first race of the season in Qatar, and although initially doctors attributed the problem to a tendon, it was finally confirmed that the problem was the famous arm pump or chronic exertional compartment syndrome, an increasingly common ailment in MotoGP riders who have to deal with bikes that exceed 260 HP. Race after race the pain was more and finally Loris and the team made the decision to undergo surgery to solve the problem.

With one month summer break, July was the most appropriate date in the calendar to complete the surgery. Now Baz has 29 days to recover before getting back on the bike on Friday August 4, when action will resume with Czech Grand Prix’s free practice sessions.

“I had surgery on arm pump, something very common among MotoGP riders. To be honest I never had problems with my arms, but this year the bike is very physical, perhaps the most physical bike I’ve ever rode in my life. The problems began in Qatar, this was the first time I noticed it and prevented me from fighting with Lorenzo until the end of the race due to the pain. In Argentina it was a little less, but in Jerez, Le Mans hurt, and in Mugello the pain was very strong. At the begining we thought it might be tendonitis, but in the end we found it to be compartment syndrome. After talking to several doctors like Dr. Mir or Dr. Charte, everyone agreed that surgery was needed. I tried to find an specialist and Randy De Puniet recommended me to Dr. Dufour. Now I will be quiet week and then I will start to train with the bike and in the gym to get back to action in Brno at 100%”.

The changing weather conditions continued throughout the German Grand Prix weekend. In practice, the MotoGP riders had to deal with dry and wet sessions, so the riders were ready to race in any condition.

The Reale Avintia Racing riders were fast in all wet sessions, with Hector Barbera leading the pack on Friday and Loris Baz fighting for Q2 in qualifying on Saturday. But although the rain was forecasted for today’s race, finally all 30 laps took place in dry conditions.

Hector Barbera only completed one third of the race. The Spanish rider did jump the start and was penalized with a Ride Through. But he didn’t see the messages in his bike dashboard and the pit boards of his team and the Race Direction. Finally he was black-flagged and disqualified.

Loris Baz was 14^th on the grid and he gained some places in the opening laps. The French rider was confident to score some points today, but after some laps he struggled with rear grip and was not able to show the same pace of practice. He finished the race in 19^th place.

The MotoGP World Championship takes a summer break now and the action will resume in August with the Czech Grand Prix in Brno.

“I really don’t know what happened in the race. It was the same problem we had all weekend. The first laps were quite good, the feeling with the new tyres was perfect and I was able to overtake some riders and I was in an interesting group. But after ten laps, I lost all rear grip and the feeling was like riding with wet tyres. In just four turns, I was losing 1.5s and I was having big moments on every lap. I decided to calm down and try to finish the race, and in the final laps I still managed to do quite well in the righthand corners with some grip, but the problem is that here you only have three of them… This is not the result I was hoping for in this race, but I think that the first half of the season was quite good overall. I’m happy with the job we have done so far and now I will get surgery in my right arm to come back stronger for the second half of the championship.”

“I went to Race Direction to watch the images, because I was convinced that I didn’t jump the start. And I was right, the problem is that at this track the start is uphill and I moved the bike with the red lights on, and that is why they have penalised me. In the first laps I was fighting in a big group and I couldn’t see the messages on my dashboard and also the pit boards for Ride Through, so I was black-flagged. It is a shame because today I had good feeling with the bike and I think that it was possible to gain some positions and score some good points. But when things are not going well, everything gets tough. We have to keep optimistic, because we have one month to train hard and change this situation in the second part of the season.”

Reale Avintia Racing rider Loris Baz missed progressing through to the Q2 session by 0.284s and he will start tomorrow’s German Grand Prix in 14^th place from the fifth row of the grid. It started to rain in the final minutes of FP4 and the qualifying practice sessions took place in wet conditions, but despite the rain, the Q1 and Q2 session were impressively fast. The grip levels of the Sachsenring’s new tarmac are incredibly high and it was difficult for the riders to find the limits. But anyway, the 24-year-old French rider was happy with his performance in the dry this morning, in one of the most difficult circuits for him in the calendar.

Following his domination in Friday’s wet session, Hector Barbera was confident for today’s qualifying session. But the Spanish Reale Avintia Racing rider made some mistakes during the 15 minutes qualifying session and will start the race from 18^th place of the grid. Barbera is confident and if it rains, he is confident about his chances to recover in the race and score some valuable championship points.

“It was really close and I missed Q2 for a little margin. It was the same in Assen. But here it is quite tricky in wet conditions because there is so much grip that it is difficult for me to find the limit and perhaps I should have trtied to follow someone from the beginning. But overall, the day was good and I am happy because we have been closer in wet conditions and on a dry track we have improved a lot in FP4. This is positive on a circuit that has always been very complicated for me. Today we made a step forward and we have closed in on the pace of the fastest riders. Let’s see if we can finish in the points tomorrow if it’s dry. It it rains, we will take some risks to try to score some good points.”

“It was a shame because I didn’t play my cards well in qualifying. Maybe I was so eager after yesterday’s performance in the wet that I made a lot of mistakes. I feel really good in these conditions and today I lost my chance. But the bike is working really well and if it rains in the race everything is possible, because a race distance over 30 laps is not the same than a 15 minutes session. Everything is very tight and I have to recover in the race. I want to finish the first half of the season with a good taste. But we have to wait and see what the weather will bring tomorrow.”

Reale Avintia Racing rider Hector Barbera dominated the second free practice session in wet conditions this afternoon at the resurfaced Sachsenring circuit. The Spaniard was on top throughout the session and in his last run improved his lap times in each lap to finish first with 0.038s advantage over Marc Marquez, who has been second.

In the morning in dry conditions, his feeling had been quite good also, but Barberá hadn’t been able to put a fast lap together and he was 14^th in the combined time sheets at the end of the day, just 0.737s adrift of the fastest pace set by world championship leader Andrea Dovizioso.

For Loris Baz, the wet session in the afternoon also was better than FP1. In dry conditions, he struggled to find good feelings with the bike and the tyres and he finished 22nd. In the wet afternoon, he managed to go much faster to finish 13^th. But the Reale Avintia Racing French rider of is not so happy with his dry settings and he hopes to improve his feelings tomorrow.

“We started well because we had the opportunity to ride in the dry and in the wet and the sensations have been good in both conditions. We were seven tenths of a second behind in the dry and we finished way back in the time sheets, but once again, all the times are very close together. Tomorrow, more rain is expected and it was important to put in a fast lap on a dry tarmac to make it to QP2 directly, but it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe I didn’t take enough risks or I didn’t find the right moment to attack, but I am still happy with what we achieved. On a wet track in the afternoon, I immediately had a good feeling. I was within the top five all the time and in the end I was fastest. I really like the new tarmac, the grip is good in wet and in dry conditions. Tomorrow I will pull all stops trying to qualify as well as possible for the race!”

“Things went quite well today. It was a bit difficult this morning, because it’s always a bit tough for me to ride fast on this circuit and I didn’t manage to string a good lap together. Looking at my ideal time, I would have been much higher up in the time sheets and therefore I think we have to try and make the bike easier to ride and if it doesn’t rain tomorrow, we will be much better. In the afternoon, my feeling with the bike was much better. The grip on the new asphalt is incredible, much better than at Assen. My feeling was good and since I didn’t want to take too many risks this afternoon, I still have something up my sleeves if it rains again tomorrow!”

Reale Avintia Racing rider Loris Baz finished the Dutch TT in a fantastic eight place following a tricky race at the legendary Assen track today. The 24 year-old French rider started the race from the 14^th place on the grid and he was able to gain some positions when the rain came with six laps to go. He started a thrilling last lap battle for seventh place with Suzuki factory rider Andrea Iannone. He beat the Italian but didn’t expect a final attack from fellow Ducati rider Karel Abraham, how passed both Iannone and Baz on the lasz lap. Nevertheless, eighth position is a great result in a difficult weekend for the Reale Avintia Racing rider.

His teammate Hector Barbera fought his way through from 20^th place on the grid and he was catching the group of Baz in the final part of the race. But when the rain started, he took the decision to swap bikes and he did the last six laps on rain tyres. This was not a winning bet and he struggled with rain tyres to finish the race 16^th.

The MotoGP World Championship heads now to Sachsenring for the German Grand Prix, which will take place next week. It will be the last race before the summer break.

“We were lucky with the rain, because in dry conditions I had no confidence and also I started to feel pain in my right arm after just two laps. I had no feeling with the front and I decided to keep my pace, because a big group was right behind me. When I saw the first drops on my visor, I pushed harder to keep the tyres in the right temperature range and to avoid changing bikes. The strategy was right and I finished eighth. On the last lap, Iannone overtook me and I passed him back in the fast lefthand corner, but I didn’t realise Abraham was so close and he caught me. But there is not a big difference between seventh or eight place, the important thing is that we finished inside the top ten, which is a boost to my motivation ahead of Germany where I hope to finish the first half of the season with another strong result.”

“Today I lost the bet. The rain started towards the end of the race and when it rains at Assen it usually rains hard, so I thought that if I swap the bike and go out again with rain tyres, maybe I would have an advantage. When I saw Zarco going into the pits I took the risk to change the bike as well. With these decisions you sometimes win and sometimes you don’t, and today it was not the best decision. In this kind of races I’ve always been quite conservative and I stayed out until the final moment with bad results. Today I did the opposite and took a big risk, but is turned out disastrously. We had the worst possible conditions in the race, but at least we learned a new lesson for the next time we’ll have a flag to flag race.”