Barbera finds confidence in Estoril Top 10 finish

At 1pm local time in Portugal, the MotoGP riders took to the grid with not even a minute of dry track time to their name over the course of the weekend. Wind and sun had dried the track for the matinee race, just moments before the lights were set to go out. Playing things by ear, the riders provided an exciting race for the fans over the course of the 28-lap contest. The start saw Stoner, Hayden, Rossi and Lorenzo battling for the lead, until Rossi took the bull by the horns and broke away. Just when it looked as if the Italian would have an easy win, Lorenzo closed down the distance and caught up with his teammate. He wasted little time in passing Rossi and then made a push of his own to establish a solid lead. The World Champion took the chequered flag first, ahead of Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso, who passed Marco Simoncelli on the line.

Héctor Barberá had already stated before arriving in Portugal that the track was a good one for him. He was expecting a good result, although the weather over the course of the weekend had made things difficult for his first MotoGP rider in Estoril. He started from fifteenth after qualifying was washed out, and was unsure of the track conditions. However, he put those doubts to one side as he looked to move up the order. Crashes ahead of him helped out, and he was the winner of a three-way battle with Aoyama and Bautista for the last spot in the top ten. The Páginas Amarillas Aspar man was back in the first ten past the line for the first time since Misano and heads to his home race in Valencia with his confidence back in place.

10º Héctor Barberá: “I am happy, because we had a good end to the weekend. Luck wasn’t with us, as I had two crashes on Friday and Saturday, but today our situation turned around. I started with the clear idea that I was going to go all-out and enjoy myself at the same time. It had been three races since I had last been able to, so I really wanted a satisfying end. We hadn’t practiced in the dry and we did well to get a good setting. I lost time at the start but found a solid pace that allowed me to feel better with every lap. Our goal was to finish in the top ten. Mission accomplished. This result is great for rolling on to Valencia with my confidence back.”

Source: Paginas Amarillas Aspar Team