Barbera feels improvements on second day at Silverstone

The Silverstone circuit track temperature did not go above 30º on day two of the British Grand Prix, and the ambient temperature reached a high of just 16º. However, the lack of heat made the practice and qualifying sessions even more intriguing, as several riders fell foul of cold tyres and unfamiliarity with the circuit’s nuances. Dani Pedrosa had the biggest fall of the qualifying run, but still managed to place on the front row. Jorge Lorenzo took his first pole position of the season, with Pedrosa and Randy de Puniet establishing themselves as the top rivals for the championship leader at the first 800cc contest at the new Silverstone track.

The morning started in a difficult manner for Páginas Amarillas Aspar rider Héctor Barberá, as the Spaniard fell on the half hour mark at Becketts (turn three). However, he got straight back up and continued his learning of the track in a consistent fashion. Improving his feeling and times at Silverstone, Héctor took this boost into qualifying. Concentrating on race pace in the afternoon, he only stopped on two occasions: once to check his first bike was in order after the morning crash repair job, and again to make a tyre change. His best lap came on his antepenultimate time around the track, giving him eleventh place on the grid for the Sunday showdown.

11th Héctor Barberá 2.05.354 (20 laps): “This second day has been much better than the first one, because I am enjoying riding more. This morning I had a bit of bad luck with a braking mistake, which caused me to crash on turn three. I wanted to brake too hard with the bars slightly turned, but the steering locked up. In qualifying I was using the second bike, and felt very comfortable. Both machines are ready for the race. I am very happy with my pace and don’t think that starting a little far back will hinder me too much, as I am capable of a comeback if I hold my nerve at the start. I have grown immensely in confidence with the Ducati in these sessions, and I love the track -especially the first half of it. The idea now is to learn from my mistakes and continue with my development in the premier class. The track is fast and very bumpy, so the margin for error is tiny and we have seen a lot of crashes as a result. On the last three laps I tried to improve my time in the final two sectors by trying new lines, but I made a mistake and was unable to go faster.”

Source: Team Aspar