The treacherous conditions at the Sachsenring circuit prevented Hector Barbera and Avintia Racing from taking a great result in the MotoGP German Grand Prix today. After grabbing second place on the grid yesterday in dry conditions, Barbera showed during the morning warm-up session that he would be also competitive in wet conditions. After the start of the race, he was able to confirm the good feeling from the morning in the wet, and he was battling in the leading group. When the track started to dry, he pushed even harder to get second position behind Andrea Dovizioso and ahead of Valentino Rossi. With seven laps to go, Hector came into the pits to change his bike, and although his pace was also competitive in mixed conditions, he lost some precious positions and finished the race in ninth place. This is certainly still a good result, but a little bit bitter-sweet after fighting for the podium. All in all, the first half of the season was really positive for Barbera and Avintia Racing, with the Spaniard seventh in the standings and leading the Ducati squad.
Expectations were also high for Loris Baz before the race, as he showed a really good pace during the morning warm-up. But Avintia Racing’s French rider failed with the tyre selection for rain conditions, and once more when he changed bikes, so he was forced to stop again in the pits. Baz eventually finished 17th, and the positive part of his return weekend is that his foot was not a problem during the race.
Barbera and Baz will now move to Spielberg for a two-day testing session at the Red Bull Ring, venue of the Austrian Grand Prix on August 12th to 14th.
HECTOR BARBERA #8 / @HectorBarbera P9
“It was a crazy race, but at the end we were unlucky. After 15 laps the track dried out really quick and I always struggle in mixed conditions. While it was wet, I did my maximum and we were in really good positions, but then, when I changed bikes, it was not so positive. In the first lap I lost too much time getting the feeling, and the pace of the guys who changed before was much faster. Finally, I lost many places. Overall it was a positive race, we were closer than ever to the front, and the team did a fantastic job during the weekend. Yesterday we took second in qualifying and today we battled until the end of the race. It was a shame because we were not able to show our potential with a good result, but ninth is not so bad. We were competitive on the wet and also in the dry, so it’s just a matter of time to get an even better result. Now we go into the summer break seventh in the championship and ahead of the rest of Ducatis, so we must be happy”
LORIS BAZ #76 / @lorisbaz P17
“The race was a disaster from the first to the last lap. The track was supposed to wet more, but it dried out. We didn’t have the best front tyre for these conditions and I had to take many risks because I had no corner speed. I went in to change the bike, but after one lap I felt that it was not possible to run the rear slick, so I stopped again to change for an intermediate. Then I realized that the track was drying more and maybe the slick was the best option, but the track conditions were changing so quick, that it was not possible to make the right choice. At the end my pace was not bad, but I already lost two laps and it made no sense to take any risk. The only positive today was that I had no pain in my foot riding the bike, even though right now the pain returned. Now we go to Austria for testing, and I hope to learn something that can help us in the second half of the season, because the first half was the worst one of my career”.
