Barbera happy with work on first day despite crash

As at Aragón in September the MotoGP programme for the weekend returned to the old format of four sessions in Portugal although this morning’s opening practice was virtually redundant due to a heavy thunderstorm that restricted the riders to their pit boxes. In the afternoon the rain relented although the circuit was still wet, allowing for a relatively normal session that saw Jorge Lorenzo lap quickest ahead of Nicky Hayden, Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner.

Páginas Amarillas Aspar rider Héctor Barberá was one of the only riders to take to the circuit this morning although he swiftly returned to the garage after just one lap. In the afternoon he was lapping inside the top ten until a crash in the chicane half an hour from the end. After returning on his second bike Héctor regained his confidence and improved his lap time on his final effort of fifteen, finishing up eleventh fastest overall.

11th Héctor Barberá 1.53.131 (16 laps): “Despite the crash midway through this afternoon’s session I am happy with my feeling with the bike. I was improving my lap times but I just braked a little later than normal and lost the front. I got back out on the other bike and after just a few laps I got my confidence back. The session flew by and taking the crash into account I have to be happy with the job we did. This circuit has very little grip when it is wet but I enjoyed myself out there today. The objective for these last two races is to get back to the form we were showing before the flyaways and so far I think we’re doing well.”

Source: Paginas Amarillas Aspar Team