Barbera Leaves Le Mans On A High After “Fun Race” & 9th Spot
In the end, a repeat of last year’s Spanish treble at Le Mans wasn’t to be. Riders from Spain were victorious in the 125cc and Moto2 races in France, but in MotoGP the win went to Casey Stoner. The Australian battled with teammate Dani Pedrosa off the line, and the two broke free early on. It was a strange race, with five crashes -one for Pedrosa. Andrea Dovizioso finished second, whilst Ducati’s Valentino Rossi took his first podium for the Italian manufacturer.
With grit and desire, Héctor Barberá turned a difficult weekend around with a positive Sunday result. A crash in Estoril at the previous round had dented his morale, and the Spaniard was having trouble feeling comfortable on his Ducati. However, he made amends on race day. Starting from fourteenth, the MAPFRE Aspar rider had a small run-off on the opening lap, and was on a mission to regain places. As part of a battle with Bautista, ElÃas and Abraham, he managed to take the chequered flag in ninth -leaving Le Mans on a high.
9th Héctor Barberá:
“This was possibly the most fun race that I’ve had so far this season. We know our options after looking at the practice sessions, and it was entertaining to be riding around with four other riders for most of the race. We were overtaking one another constantly. I think that I could have given a bit more, if I hadn’t have made a mistake on lap one. I had Hayden in sight and intended to follow him for as long as possible in order to keep my pace up, but I ran off track and ended up down in last. From then on I had to change my strategy, as I had to regain places any way that I could. I was lucky enough to do so and move up to ninth. I leave Le Mans with a good feeling, because we had a successful end to a difficult weekend. We also manager to regain confidence after the disaster at Estoril. I feel good physically and mentally, and this result gives me a boost in morale that will take us to Montmeló ready to give our all.”
Source: Aspar Media
