Barbera still lacking grip but staying optimistic

The Spanish Grand Prix got underway at Jerez today but it wasn’t a local rider who set the pace in the opening practice sessions. Dani Pedrosa did his best to please the home crowd but finished 0.028 shy of his team-mate Casey Stoner, who continued with his dominant performance from Qatar. The MotoGP field had two sessions today, one in perfect weather this morning and a second one in the afternoon when 30km/h winds led to slower times and more than the odd crash.

Like most riders Héctor Barberá set his fastest lap of the day, a 1’41.601, in the morning although he came close to it in the afternoon with a 1’41.665. The MAPFRE Aspar rider finished the day thirteenth fastest overall but some way off finding his best level of performance and that of his Ducati. Stability under acceleration is his main focus for tomorrow although he has a clear idea of how it can be found.

13th Héctor Barberá 1.41.601 (36 laps): “Today didn’t go as I had hoped, we struggled to find the right set-up for the bike. In Qatar everything was more simple because apart from the free practice sessions at the Grand Prix we had also had two days of prior testing there. Here we’re starting from scratch and I am seven tenths off the position where I think I should be, so there is no need to panic. It was a decent shakedown today. Our main objective was to get some laps in on used tyres and get a better idea for the race. We struggled for stability under acceleration but tomorrow we’ll try a new swingarm and play around with the geometry of the Ducati to try and get more grip.”

Source: Mapfre Aspar