Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz head to Germany for the ninth round of the 2017 MotoGP World Championship. With 3.7km of length, the Sachsenring is the shortest track in the calendar and also the slowest in terms of average speed. But its nature with a twisty and tight first sector and a fast final part of the circuit always produces close battles.
Barbera has good memories from last year when he qualified for the front row in second place, and also from the race when he fought for the podium in rain conditions. But he swapped bikes too late losing his podium chances and finishing the race in ninth place. Nonetheless he is looking forward to this weekend with confidence, as he loves the track.
The German circuit is not in the favourites list for his teammate Baz but, following his good performance last time in Assen, he is looking forward to repeat this good result and to finish the first half of the season in a positive mood.
“The weekend in Assen was not so good for us and that’s why I’m looking forward to get the German weekend started. I love the track. Last year I started the race from the front row of the grid and I did a good race on Sunday. Assen has been always difficult for me, but Sachsenring is one of the best circuits for my riding style and I’m confident to achieve a good result. This will be important after such a difficult first half of the season. It’s crucial to leave Germany with positive feelings so we can build up our confidence for the second part of the championship.”
“I’m looking forward to start the weekend at the Sachsenring following the result from last Sunday in Assen. I don’t like the circuit too much, I never felt great there and last year I raced with an injury. But we have some ideas to make the bike work and it’s a left-hand circuit, which should be good for my arm I want to finish the first half of the season with another strong result. Straight after this race, I will undergo surgery to fix the problems in my right arm.”
