Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz finished 21th and 13th in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez today. The result has been far from the expectations of riders and team, but following a tough weekend with a start from the seventh row of the grid, it was still encouraging to get some points and to finish just few seconds from the top ten.
Baz did a great start from 19th place of the grid and rode some strong laps at the beginning to climb to 11th place. Hector Barbera also gained a lot of places in the first half of the race and battled with his teammate and with Scott Redding throughout the race. The final five laps were really exciting to watch, with both Reale Avintia riders fighting for twelfth position until the last corner of the last lap.
Barbera and Baz will remain at Jerez tomorrow for a crucial day of testing.
“We could say that we made a little step forward in the race. The most important thing this weekend is that I started to get some feeling with the bike. I had feedback from the front end, which boosted my confidence. I think that we have started to find the right direction and I feel more comfortable on the bike. Two races ago it was impossible for me to stay with Redding or even with my teammate Loris, but today I was with them the whole race. Tomorrow we stay here for testing because we really need to work to tame this bike. The last few laps fighting with Loris had been fun, I like to fight with him and, although you have to be more careful because it is your teammate, I really enjoyed the battle.”
“We knew that the race was going to be tough because we tried something this morning and it did not work, so we went back to yesterday’s settings. I had a good start and gained some places. Then I tried to hold my position as long as possible. To be honest, I was surprised during the first eleven laps, because the bike was working well. But when a number of riders crashed, I also almost lost the front several times and I decided that it was crucial to finish the race. In the last five laps, I had nothing else up my sleeve and Scott overtook me. Then I had a good battle with Hector. Some of the passes were close, but I had a lot of fun. It’s a shame not being able to be closer to the front, but today the target was to stay on the bike until the chequered flag.”
