The MotoGP World Championship heads to the red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend. Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz arrive at the track of Spielberg keen to overcome last weekend’s difficult race at Brno with a strong result. The Austrian circuit suits the characteristics of the Ducati to perfection, as it’s layout it is a sequence of long straights linked by fast and short turns, where the Desmosedicis can show their full potential.
Barbera has a pending debt with the Austrian track. Twelve months ago, he had one of his best weekends in MotoGP. But on race day, he jumped the start, didn’t complete the “Ride Through” penalty imposed by Race Direction, and was disqualified whilst running seventh in the leading group. This time he is determined not to fail and to take advantage of the powerful engine of his Desmosedici GP16.
His Reale Avintia Racing teammate, Loris Baz, has good memories of Austria, because despite starting the race from the last position of the grid, the Frenchman made a good comeback that took him to 13th place. This year he hopes to qualify better and his goal on Sunday will be to finish in the ‘Top 10’.
“We come to a circuit that I really like and on which we went very well last year. It was probably the best race weekend since I’m in MotoGP. During the first few laps we were with the front runners and although I was disqualified in the end because of a jump start, my feelings were very good throughout the weekend. It is obvious that the Ducati works very well in Austria. The team is pushing more than ever and I’m physically well after having trained hard during the break, so this time we have to seize the opportunity to leave the bad streak of this season behind.”
“To be honest, the track is not one of my favourites, but it’s true that its layout is very good for the Ducati. There are only few long corners and that should be good for us, because the bike does not turn very well and in this kind of corners where you go at big lean angles for a long time, we suffer more chatter. I hope to work well from Friday to be able to get in Q2 again and to have a good weekend to make up for the race of Brno. Last week we missed an opportunity to do well, but in Austria I hope everything works from Friday and we can fight to be in the top ten on Sunday.”
