The start of this season was not dotted with legendary exploits for Hector, with two thirteenth places in Qatar and Argentina, then a fourteenth in Texas and a twelfth in Spain. The Reale Avintia Racing team, a subsidiary of Esponsorama owned by Raúl Romero, boss of Reale Seguros, Grupo Avintia, Pacha, Air Europa and Cirsa, among others, started the season modestly.
Fourteenth in Italy, Barbera failed to finish in the top 10. He had a Ducati GP16, but Scott Redding also, who finished seventh in Qatar and eighth in Argentina. Suddenly the door to paradise opened in Catalonia, when on Saturday Hector qualified with the sixth fastest time, while his best position so far this year had been twelfth place on the grid.
With a wave of his magic wand, Barbera found himself on the second row of the starting grid, alongside Marc Marquez and Aleix Espargaro. It simply preceded Andrea Dovizioso, Jonas Folger and Maverick Vinales. Half of the result was already obtained, provided you then managed your race well.
Barbera took advantage of the extraordinary opportunity finally given to him, and he cautiously started in tenth position before overtaking Jack Miller. But the Australian passed it again immediately, in the company of Scott Redding and Valentino Rossi. Thirteenth, Hector took off again and finally finished ninth, 23 seconds behind Andrea Dovizioso, 3 behind Rossi and 1 ahead of Vinales.
This ninth place did not allow him to join the clan of dominators in the championship, but he got out of the doldrums to get closer to his teammate Loris Baz and join Andrea Iannone tied. It was the first top 10 of the year for Barbera who on Sunday became the youngest rider (born 2-11-1986) to have participated in 250 Grands Prix (including 128 in MotoGP). He debuted in 125 in Japan in 2002.
For Hector Barbera, “I am very happy because after a chaotic start to the season, we were finally able to demonstrate that we have taken a step forward.
“We have to forget the first races and continue in this line. Today we were sixth, then finished ninth in a race that was very tough with so much heat.
“At the start, Zarco came into the chicane very hard, took me away and lost contact with the group. It's a shame, because we could have done a little better. But we're getting closer, we're more competitive and I'm adapting my style more to this bike.
“It costs me a lot and that’s why I train off the track to go faster. In the last races we were already better, we couldn't confirm it, but today we finally demonstrated it. »
Race ranking:
1- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP
2- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 3.544
3- Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team - Honda RC213V - + 6.774
4- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 9.608
5- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 13.838
6- Jonas Folger – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 13.921
7- Alvaro Bautista – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 16.763
8- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 20.821
9- Hector Barbera – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 23.952
10- Maverick Vinales – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 24.189
11- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V – + 28.329
12- Loris Baz – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP15 – + 33.281
13- Scott Redding – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 35.200
14- Karel Abraham – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP15 – + 39.436
15- Tito Rabat – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V – + 40.872
16- Andrea Iannone – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 43.221
17- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 44.655
18- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 48.993
19- Sam Lowes – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 55.492
World Championship :
1 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 111 points
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 104
3 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 88
4 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 84
5 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 83
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 75
7 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 59
8 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 51
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 45
10 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 42
11 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 34
12 Scott REDDING-Ducati 33
13 Jack MILLER-Honda 30
14 Loris BAZ-Ducati 23
15 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 21
16 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 21
17 Tito RABAT-Honda 19
18 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 17
19 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 11
20 Michele PIRRO-Ducati 7
21 Alex RINS-Suzuki 7
22 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 6
23 Bradley SMITH-KTM 6
24 Sam LOWES-Aprilia 2
25 Sylvain GUINTOLI-Suzuki 1
Photo © Reale Avintia Racing
