Category: MotoGP

The Avintia Racing rider, Hector Barbera, finished in fifth position in a dramatic flag to flag race with a mandatory safety stop to change bikes after the tyre problems experienced by Scott Redding on Saturday free practice. Barbera did a great start from the eighth place of the grid and was in the leading group from the beginning of the race, and after changing bikes in the ninth lap, he was fighting until the last lap with Pol Espargaro. In the final lap they overtook each other many times, and after some riders crashes, Barbera won the battle to his fellow countryman to see the chequered flag in fifth place. A great result after a difficult weekend with flu and fever attacks.

Barbera’s happiness contrasted with the disappointment of Loris Baz. After a great start from the fifth row, the Avintia Racing French rider was ahead of his teammate when they stopped to change bikes, but a rear tyre problem that produced some vibration and a lack of grip, forced him to stop. Big shame for Baz who had the pace to fight with Barbera for the top five.

The MotoGP World Championship heads now to the United States for the third round of the year at the Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas, the next weekend.

HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 / @HectorBarbera P5

“I’m very happy because overall, this was a really strange weekend, but finally the hard work gave us a price. This morning I felt really good on the wet during the warm up, but then the race was held in the worst conditions for me, with the asphalt half wet, half dry. Under these conditions I always feel tense and when I was on the grid I knew the race was going to be hard. Jarno, my crew chief asked me to try, because it had no sense to be on the back, I did it and it worked. I immediately realized that I was fast and I was gaining confidence lap by lap. In the first half of the race I was battling with my teammate Loris, and then with Pol. On the last lap we overtook each other several times and we went long in one corner. Laverty came into the battle and he took the fourth place in the last corner. But overall, and after a difficult weekend, this fifth place is a great result.”

LORIS BAZ #76 / @lorisbaz DNF

“I’m disappointed and very frustrated, because were doing a good race today and fighting to be the best private bike inside the top 10 in the first part of the race. Before changing bikes I was seventh, but then nothing was working. I almost crashed in every corner during the first two laps and I don’t really know what happened. But it had no sense to continue like this, so I went back to the garage. It is the second time in my life that I retire in a race, but I could not ride the bike in this conditions. When I watch the race I get more angry, because today we had the chance to finish fourth. The only positive is that we race in Texas next weekend.”

Avintia Racing rider Hector Barbera finished ninth after a hard 21-lap-race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas today. He improved lap by lap from the 14^th place of the grid to be fighting for the seventh position with Pol Espargaro and Michele Pirro. But he had a big moment in the final laps that put him out of the battle, but this was still a positive result and the third top ten in succession for the Spanish rider.

Loris Baz had a great start from the third lane of the grid but he suddenly crashed out on the second lap after another rider touched him in the first turn. The French Avintia Racing rider went back on track with his bike damaged, but he managed to bring it home in 15^th position and get his first point of the season after crashing in Qatar and retiring in Argentina.

Overall the start of the MotoGP World Championship has been positive for Avintia Racing, with Barbera always in the top ten and sixth in the standings before heading to Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix in just two weeks time.

HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 / @HectorBarbera P9

“This was a difficult weekend and every day was getting more complicated. Maybe I came here with high expectations after the fifth place in Argentina, and I think this was not good for us, because during the whole weekend I didn’t work as I had to. So we arrived at the race today eager to race, but maybe with some unfinished homework. This is a very physical circuit and I suffered with my forearm; after five laps I had a lot of pain. Finally I could make up the weekend with another top ten finish and, although this is not relevant, we are the first Ducati and sixth in the standings after three races.”

LORIS BAZ #76 / @lorisbaz P15

“I did a good start and I was in the right group, but on the second lap, when I was passing Bradl, someone came from the inside and hit me. I tried to lift the bike, but I crashed. I don’t know who did it, I hear maybe Bautista, but this is racing. It was difficult to finish the race without shifter, one centimetre footpeg, and damaged swingarm, but I did it for my team and my mechanics after such a good weekend. It was hard and I had some pain in my shoulder, but even though, my pace was not so bad.”

The riders of Avintia Racing had a difficult weekend at Mugello. Héctor Barberá and Loris Baz had arrived with high hopes and lots of anticipation at the Grand Prix of Italy and the home track of Ducati, but from the first day, things didn’t go the way as planned and Sunday wasn’t any different. Héctor Barberá finished the race in twelfth position and took some valuable points again, but was outside the top ten for the first time this season. Nevertheless, the Spaniard defended his eighth place in the world championship classification.

Team-mate Loris Baz ran into bad luck when he was taken out by another rider in the first corner of the race. In the incident, Baz suffered multiple fractures and dislocations in his right foot and will have to go undergo surgery in Switzerland next week. After the examinations in the circuit hospital, Dr. Xavier Mir, Medical Director of MotoGP, confirmed that Loris suffered dislocations of the five metatarsophalangeal joints in his right foot, and diaphyseal fractures of four toes in the same foot. While Baz was still in the circuit hospital and under anesthesis, the dislocations were set and on Tuesday, he will be operated in the hospital La Tour at Meyrin/Geneve, where Dr. Finn Mahler, director of sport medicine, will insert plates to fix the multiple fractures in his right foot. At the moment, it is unclear whether Baz will be able to start at the upcoming Grand Prix of Catalunya. Everything will depend from his recovery after the surgery.

HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 / @HectorBarbera P12

“This was a weekend to forget. Everyday things got more and more difficult and we were not able to show our real potential. I don’t know if its good or bad, but my crew chief says that I have to realize that we are racing with a two year old bike, and we are doing the same lap times that the factory team did in the past. It’s difficult to go more on the limit than the factory team and we have reach the same lap times or even improved them. It’s clear that my rivals have better machinery and to beat them in fast tracks like this is almost impossible. At the end of the day, we finished another race and we still the best Ducati in the standings, something that we could not even dream with when we started the season. We can’t do more with the bike we have and I think that the team and myself deserve to have a chance, because we always want more.”

LORIS BAZ #76 / @lorisbaz DNF

“The race was incredible short for me. I did a good start but it was a lot of traffic on the inside and it was difficult to overtake in the first turn, so I decided to get the outside line, but suddenly someone hit me and I crashed. From the first moment I realized that my foot was broken. I got fractures on the second, third, fourth and fifth metatarsus, and a displacement on the first one. I got set the first one at the circuit medical centre and I will go to the hospital at Geneve on Tuesday to fix the rest. I don’t know How long will take the recovery because is a difficult place and can swell a lot. I will follow the doctor instructions because I don’t want to come back soon and take risks for the next races. More than the race I’ll be disappointed if I can do the test on after the race in Barcelona, because I really need it.”

Avintia Racing rider Hector Barbera was very optimistic for today’s Catalan Gran Prix after his fantastic fourth place in qualifying yesterday. The start was not great and he lost some places during the first lap, but when he started to find his pace, the rear tyre started to lose grip and he had to fight with his bike in every corner until the end of the race. Barbera crossed the line tenth, but afterwards was penalized with one place because he cut the new chicane on the last lap. The positive result of this race is that the Spaniard is still eight in the World Championship standings after seven rounds.

Michele Pirro, who was replacing Loris Baz in Barcelona after the injuries sustained by the French rider at Mugello, suffered the same grip problems as Barbera during the race. Ducati’s test rider finished the race 15^th, but he thinks that working a little bit more with the electronics the GP14.2 has the potential to fight for the ‘Top 10’ in every race.

Hector Barbera will have a one day test tomorrow in Barcelona and he hopes to find something that will help him to battle for better results in the next races.

HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 / @HectorBarbera P11

“This is not the result I was expecting today after what we achieved yesterday. The race was very difficult because of the tyres and after six laps I had no grip at all, the bike was spinning a lot and the traction control was working everywhere. In these conditions the bike was not working like yesterday and I had to slow my pace. The lack of grip was increasing lap by lap and the bike became unrideable. I was patient and I tried my best to get the bike back to the garage, but I was more than five seconds slower compared with yesterday. We’ll try to find something in the test we have tomorrow, but I think that we need some help from Michelin.”

MICHELE PIRRO #51 / @pirrorider P15

“The race was really difficult because I had no grip and the rear was spinning a lot. With this problem, it was impossible to get a better result. I also lost some time in the first few laps and with the lack of grip the race became more difficult. We knew that it would be difficult, but I expected a better result today. I want to thank the team for this race again, we worked really well during the weekend. Overall I think that working more on the electronics, the package has the potential for ‘Top 10’ finishes in every race.”

The 2016 MotoGP World Championship has started in a very positive way for Hector Barbera and Avintia Racing. The Spanish rider, who started from the eighth place of the grid, made a great race to reach the chequered flag in ninth position and get his first seven points of the season. The race was hard and he had two big moments that prevented him to fight for a better place, but overall the result has been positive and gives the team confidence for the next few races.

The result was not so positive for Loris Baz, who did a great start from the 16^th place to 12^th position, but on the eighth lap he crashed after losing the front of his Ducati in turn two. But the Avintia Racing rider is confident on improving his performances in the next two rounds in Argentina and Texas.

HÉCTOR BARBERÁ #8 / P9

“We have reached the goal we had before the race which was to finish in the top ten, but today I wanted to get something more. But we have to be realistic and know that we are fighting against factory bikes, and this is not an excuse. Now we are closer to the front and we can get better results. During the weekend I’ve been tense because it was the first race, we did not work as well as in the test and I made many mistakes. I’m the one who has to be more calm and transmit it to the team, but I’ve been nervous because I’ve seen myself close to the front and with more chances to get a good result. The championship just started and our real goal is to be in the top ten at every race, and when we have a really good chance, to fight for the top five. It was a shame, because I made a mistake riding behind Pol Espargaro and then Smith overtook me. Today we had the chance to fight for the seventh place, but nevertheless, to be the third Ducati is something positive.”

LORIS BAZ #76 / DNF

“I was doing a good race, and step by step I was building my confidence to get a good pace. I was quite comfortable with Aleix, but I had some lack of front grip going into the corners and also traction getting out of them. I tried to change my lines to get the maximum of the bike, but going into the second corner I lost the front and crashed. I don’t know why, but it’s clear that I reached the limit. The first race went better than we expected and there are some positive things, as Hector had been showing. We have to keep working in the same line from the winter and I’m sure that in Argentina, a track I really like, we can do much better. We have 17 more races ahead and, although is always better to start the season with a good result, we have to be positive. I’m not a rider who crashes often during the races, and I feel sorry for my team that worked very hard during the weekend.”