Barbera takes decent 9th at Misano, but is left speechless by Tomizawa’s death

The MotoGP premier class riders began the San Marino Grand Prix in the knowledge that Moto2 rider Shoya Tomizawa was in a critical condition, following an in-race accident earlier in the day. The Japanese rider was pronounced dead at 2.20pm local time, and as such the competitors only learned of his tragic passing after the race had ended. Dani Pedrosa won the contest at Misano after leading from start to finish, taking off from pole and leaving Stoner and Lorenzo in his wake. The two Spaniards and their Australian counterpart were out in front for the majority of the race, until Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso joined in the battle for the podium and added some excitement to the fight. Pedrosa came home first with a solid gap between himself and Lorenzo -also riding solo, whilst Rossi rounded off the rostrum at his home circuit.

Comeback after comeback, Páginas Amarillas Aspar rider Héctor Barberá continues to learn in his rookie year as a MotoGP rider. The Spaniard showed that Misano is a good circuit for him, once again living a great performance. He took off from sixteenth on the grid, and had to face a tough battle with Randy de Puniet and then Marco Melandri for ninth place. He now looks forward to his third home race of the season, at Motorland Aragon, in two weeks time, although at the moment he is understandably shaken by the terrible events of today and is thinking firmly of colleague Shoya Tomizawa.

9th Héctor Barberá: “I would have had fun in the race, as I was enjoying riding. We go home with a good result and have continued to improve. However, right now, after learning about what has happened to Tomizawa, I am speechless. I was told about it as soon as I got off the bike, and it is very difficult to take something like that in. Today’s result doesn’t really matter anymore. Shoya was a great rider who always gave his all on the bike. He was also a great person who was always smiling and with whom I got on well. I want to send my thoughts to his family and friends.”

Source: Aspar Ducati Team