The Australian Grand Prix has started today at Phillip Island for the Reale Avintia Racing team riders and although both have finished towards the rear of the standings, they are confident for tomorrow and they expect to step forward and improve their positions on the grid for the 27-lap-race on Sunday.
Loris Baz finished 18th just 0.5s from the Top 10 and tomorrow he hopes to improve the set-up of his Ducati Desmosedici, with the aim to move straight to Q2. The Frenchman finished the day with a crash, fortunately without major consequences.
Reale Avintia Racing rider Hector Barbera worked hard with his crew to find the best set-up, and although his position doesn’t reflect his feeling, the Spaniard is overall happy with the first day at the Island and he is confident for tomorrow where he expects to get closer to the fastest riders.
“The first day has been a bit complicated but I think we did a good job. This morning I did not have very good feeling and we spent the whole session with the same tyres in order to reserve some for this afternoon and to keep working on the set-up of the bike. In the second session, I immediately felt better with the bike and we have tried some things to improve. I’m still not completely satisfied with the feeling I have, but I think we’re on the right way. At the end I suffered a small crash in the slower turn of the circuit and it was a shame because we could still have improved a little more”.
“It was a very strange day and I started with a rather unexpected crash. When I shifted back one gear at turn nine, the bike high-sided. The team did a great job and repaired the bike in time for the second free practice. We have tried several different set-up options and it was useful for us to get the right direction for tomorrow. We have been working with the medium rear tyre and with the soft at the end, but although I didn’t push to the maximum I think we have a good base for tomorrow. We will see how the weather will be, but if it stays as today I think we can improve a lot. “
