He has scored points during the past nine Grands Prix and is currently seventh in the championship, simply asserting himself as the best Ducati rider in MotoGP. If this presentation had been made as a riddle at the very beginning of this campaign, very few would have given the name of Hector Barberá as an answer. And yet, this is the current situation of the Avintia driver in the general classification.
All this with an antique Desmosesdici GP14.2 that the Michelins and the new standard electronic control unit have plunged into a bath of youth. The gap with the other machines has narrowed but also, the knowledge of the bike by its rider and his team is now more than perfect. We can even talk about complicity, since time!
Results ? Hector Barbera is one of three drivers to have scored at every meeting this year. He shares this quality with Eugene Laverty and a certain Marc Marquez. A fifth and a sixth place as best results under the checkered flag and a fourth then a second position as the best performances on the starting grid. The Spaniard has collected 65 points so far and has only fallen on three occasions. Alone Valentino Rossi beats him on this statistic having only fallen on two occasions.
In short, the teammate of Loris Baz can already consider his season successful. He even knows that he will have his reward in Valencia by driving a GP16. But Hector doesn't intend to stop there. He swears that the best is yet to come: “ we owe our position to our regularity. But even though this seventh place in the championship is very good, we did not make the most of the opportunities presented to us. We were good in practice, very good in qualifying, but not as good in the race. I think our second part of the season will be much better than the first ».
Le Barbera of this year is therefore conquering: “ This year, I prepared better and changed my approach because the regulations brought the level of the bikes closer together. There are opportunities. Now when you compare our team and its 2014 bike with the means and resources of our direct opponents, which include the factories, we have nothing to be ashamed of. My team gives 200%. These first nine races have particularly motivated us for the nine to follow, some of which will take place on interesting tracks. ».
But then, where will it stop? Barbera ? " The objective is to finish first among the satellite pilots. I am only seven points behind Pol Espargaró. But we also keep our feet on the ground. He is a former World Champion and his Yamaha is very close to that of Lorenzo and Rossi. It will be complicated but I prepare myself every day to give my best and we will do everything to get there. Until the curtain drops on this season! » See you on August 12 for the start of the school year in Austria on a Red Bull Ring that preliminary tests showed how much it corresponded to the character of the Desmosedici.
