Barbera 13th in first practice, but just over a second off the pace

The Malaysian Grand Prix began as last weekend’s Japanese round of the MotoGP World Championship ended: Four favourites up front and showing that they will be tough to beat on track. Rossi was quickest in the opening free practice session, followed by Dovizioso, Lorenzo and Stoner. The Italians, Spaniard and Australian were quick at Motegi and played the main part in the race itself. On a long track which tends to separate the field, times were tight as could be at the end of the first day. Positions one to last were separated by just 1.299 seconds. The Sepang Circuit is well known by the riders despite its location far away from their European bases, due to its regularity on the winter testing calendar. This knowledge goes some way to explaining the premier class riders’ flying start to the 2010 Grand Prix.

Héctor Barberá was one of those beginning strong, a welcome change to his previous weekend. Progressively improving his times, the Spaniard recorded his best lap of the day on his 21st time around the track, stopping the clock at 2’03.760. The Páginas Amarillas Aspar rider claimed the thirteenth quickest time of the session, but was only 1.036 seconds slower than provisional poleman Rossi. He was no slouch through the speedtrap either, with the quickest top speed of 310km/h.

Practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix continues on Saturday, with qualifying in the afternoon.

13th Héctor Barberá 2.03.760 (21 laps): “We used the same set-up to day that we had for the last race and I felt comfortable with it. We made a rather big change after six laps which gave us some improvement, then after another six we made an adjustment for the final stint. I am very happy, because we have taken a step forward with the setting and, thanks to this, I am much more confident with corner entry. The session flew by, which is a sign that I was having fun. I think that this track will be better for us to go faster, because we already have data from the winter. I finished thirteenth, one second from the fastest time. Far off first in terms of position, but by improving a little more we can be part of the top eight.”

Source: Paginas Amarillas Aspar Team