The news does not come directly from the pilot, but from his current boss Manuel Puccetti: after the serious injury of Tito Rabat was proven, the Avintia team contacted its former driver Hector Barbera to replace him during a convalescence which promises to be quite long. And the Spanish refused…
The words come from GP One and they are attributed to Manuel Puccetti who enlisted Hector Barbera for a Kawasaki Supersport adventure: “ Hector told me that he had received the opportunity to replace Rabat at Avintia. And he assured me that he wasn't interested. He thinks that MotoGP is no longer his future and he has done a lot of racing there in recent years and now he wants to concentrate on disciplines racing motorcycles derived from the series. Barbera believes his experiment with prototypes is over. He wants to experience a new start with the Supersport 600 ».
32 years old, Hector Barbera was vice-world champion 125 in 2004, as in 250 in 2009. He performed well on Ducati in MotoGP and rode for three seasons with the Avintia team. Who will therefore have to look for another replacement Tito Rabat injured after horrific crash at Silverstone.
It will be recalled that during the British Grand Prix another former Avintia driver by the name of Loris Baz who was freelancing at KTM due to a Pol Espargaro hurt. But the relations were not really the same between the Frenchman and his former team… “ I have absolutely not been contacted by Avintia at Silverstone. I think they had other things to do ».
