Pramac Racing Team rider Hèctor Barberà rode hard to take the 9th position in scorching hot temperatures during the Gran Premio D’Italia at the Mugello track in Tuscany this afternoon.
Starting from the third spot on the grid for the first time in his whole MotoGP career, Barberà slipped a few places at the start, exiting turn two in seventh. After another three laps, the Spaniard established himself in a group that included Valentino Rossi and Cal Crutchlow, fighting for sixth position. Despite pushing hard to remain in the battle for the top six, Hèctor was unable to maintain his early pace, holding onto 8th place alone, until three laps to go, when he lost his place in favour of Casey Stoner.
The 25-year-old rider struggled to find the right confidence with his Ducati, finishing the Pramac Racing Team's home race in 9th position. The next appointment is scheduled in two weeks, when the MotoGP riders will visit the Laguna Seca circuit in the U.S.
Hèctor Barberà
“I’m really disappointed and a bit mystified because I’ve felt good all weekend and we got the bike working really well on this track. I don’t know what happened during today’s 23-lap race, but I struggled a lot to find the right confidence with my bike, especially when I had to change direction, as my Ducati slid a lot. And at this track you have got a lot of fast changes of direction that are crucial to setting good times and maintaining a fast race pace. Both the air temperature and the track temperature were quite similar to yesterday and I don’t understand what changed compared to the practice sessions. Today I didn’t enjoy myself and it was a shame, because Mugello is one of my favourite tracks.”
Francesco Guidotti – Pramac Racing Team Manager
“Today wasn’t a great Sunday. We expected a better result, after the amazing qualifying session of yesterday and the positive work made in the last two days. Hèctor told us that he had an issue during the race, struggling with a bike that slid too much. Now we need to analyze the data to understand what happened today and to solve the issue by the next race, at Laguna Seca.”
Pramac Ducati Racing Press Release
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