Barbera finding his way around brandnew track

Just six days after getting off their bikes in Sachsenring, Germany, the MotoGP riders were back on them today at 13:55 local time (GMT-7) at Laguna Seca for the opening free practice of the USGP, which marks the halfway point of the 2010 season. Rossi, Pedrosa, Dovizioso and Lorenzo all challenged for top spot at some point during the hour but it was Stoner who dominated with a lap that matched Lorenzo’s pole time from last year.

The technical layout and elevation changes of Laguna Seca make it a big challenge for the riders and today the field were separated by a large margin. Páginas Amarillas Aspar rider Héctor Barberá started out well on his first visit to the Californian track, making progress throughout the session and clocking his best time on his last of 32 laps – an effort that was good enough for 13th position overall.

13th Héctor Barberá 1.24.326 (32 laps): “The Corkscrew is very cool – you don’t see anything on the entry and you just have to throw yourself in there. After a couple of laps I already felt dizzy from all the elevation changes! Even though the Corkscrew section is the most fun it is also the place I’m struggling the most so we have to work out a faster way through there. The circuit in general is very interesting but I haven’t got used to it yet and this first session was just a case of getting a feel for it. I’m happy because I went out and did 22 laps and improved on every one of them. I stopped to put a harder tyre on but I didn’t have any grip with it and the last five laps of the session weren’t much use. Anyway, looking on the bright side I have got to know the circuit and got my braking markers sorted out. I tried to get some references from other riders too and now I just have to put them into practice. My Ducati was working really well – today was more a case of finding my way around the track before we start on set-up.”

Source: Aspar Team