Barbera hoping to fight for top six in Silverstone race
There was a certain air of deja vu at Silverstone on Saturday. Stoner was the strongest rider in both the morning and afternoon sessions, taking pole for the British Grand Prix with his afternoon run. Simoncelli and Lorenzo pushed him close, but haven’t yet been able to catch the Australian. It was a close call in the afternoon session, and Stoner only held onto pole position by a tenth of a second from the Italian and two tenths from the Spaniard. Sunday’s race looks to have a similar script to that of last week at Montmeló although rain could open up the field and break up the dominance of the front row trio. Forecasts predict a 70% chance of rain after 11am. The MotoGP gris is once again down to fifteen, with Pedrosa out injured and Crutchlow also fracturing his collarbone in the qualifying session.
Héctor Barberá will start from eleventh on the grid. Despite it not being an optimal placing, the MAPFRE Aspar rider is very motivated for the race. He has reason to be cheerful once more after a disappointing weekend at Montmeló. Instead of looking for a speedy single lap, the Spaniard has been working on race pace and has been going round in the 2’05 range. Feeling comfortable on his Ducati, Barberá is ready for whatever the weather throws at him and will look to make a charge up the order on Sunday.
12th Héctor Barberá 2.05.164 (23 laps): “It has been a strange day, in which I could have got a better grid position. I want to focus on the positive side, which is that we are close to sixth place. I think that this is where we can finish tomorrow, based on our pace and consistency over the past two days. Although the result hasn’t been great today, I feel very comfortable on my Ducati. I am convinced that we can get a good finish tomorrow. We will have to make some changes if it rains, but even though I would prefer a dry race I think that we are prepared. I will wait until tomorrow to show what I can do. We have found a good setting and are ready to race. I have managed to put in a lot of laps and am really motivated.”
Source: Team Aspar