It’s a Hector Barbera half fig, half grape which gave its feeling to GP One on his 2017 prospects in MotoGP. However, the idyllic Andorran setting chosen for the presentation of the Reale Avintia team was enough to make you smile, but that of the Spaniard was a little tense. His arm in a sling after a recent fall in training which damaged his collarbone, the teammate of Loris Baz was also worried about the shape of his GP16 without fins.
Last year, Hector Barbera remained leader of the “Ducatists” for a long time in the general classification of the championship while offering himself some brilliant strokes which brought him to the foot of the podium. A beautiful journey rewarded by the award of a GP16 for this year. The same one that won two Grands Prix under the factory colors. In, Austria with Iannone, and in Malaysia with Dovizioso.
Something to rejoice at the end of a valiant but ancient GP14.2. Except that this GP16 must now do without its fins. A handicap verified during the off-season tests by the Spaniard who also saw his compatriot Baptist more than efficient just by discovering the Desmosedici.
An injury and doubts don’t go well together: “ we have a problem with the front of the bike. During the last tests at Phillip Island, we made big changes to the settings and things improved. But all of this needs to be confirmed. This is why I would have liked to do the tests in Qatar. The loss of fins is a handicap. We are forced to soften our settings to make the bike turn, but that creates problems in fast corners. We do not lock the trajectory. We work on general balance and position in the saddle ».
An analysis which also sheds light on the difficulties of the factory drivers of Borgo Panigale: “ the GP16 and the GP17 are quite similar. But hey, I'm happy to have this bike. She is competitive, she won twice in 2016. I will try to play for the top 5 as often as possible and dream of a podium. I don't think we will have as many winners this season. Last year there were too many special circumstances ».
The joust with Baptist and on equal terms therefore promises to be interesting, since the Aspar pilot covets the same route. But in the meantime, we have to recover from this injury. One more regretted by Hector: “ It only happens to me. Every time I get injured it's almost always because of a mechanical problem. I was training on a motorcycle that lost its front brakes. So I braked from behind and slid. I was going to hit the wall so I let myself fall. I immediately understood what I had done to myself. They say that training on a motorcycle is dangerous. But that's what pilots have to do ».
However, this incident should not handicap him too much for the first Grand Prix at Losail: “ I trained a lot this winter, so the consequences won't be that serious. But it's always important to test in Qatar before the Grand Prix. It's in the spotlight and the grip is special. And then the last tests didn't really go well ».
Le Barbera 2017 vintage is worried.
