Aspar Czech GP race report

Barberá battles hard in Brno comeback

Hector Barbera, Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP

Photo by: Bridgestone Corporation

The Spaniard suffered in the Cardion ab Grand Prix Ceské republiky outing with front end issue, but held on for tenth.

Héctor Barberá started from thirteenth on the grid, following a tough return from the summer break in which changes to his Ducati were not having the desired effect. The MAPFRE Aspar man gave his all on race day to take a creditable eleventh place. This was despite suffering from some big issues with his front tyre, lacking grip for almost all of the 22 laps in the Czech Republic. The Spaniard had to keep his cool on the last pair of laps, fighting to stave off two riders who had caught up with him and were hungry to overtake. All eyes now are on Indianapolis, and another chance for Héctor Barberá to have a solid race.

Héctor Barberá: "It was a pretty difficult race, as I had problems with the front end five laps in and they wouldn't go away. Between the previous race and this one we worked hard on the front, but we still have a few things to resolve. Today it felt like I was losing the front when I hit the brakes on certain corners. This wasn't helped by the fact that the tyre was gradually degrading and making it tougher to brake hard every time. I tried to make the most of things at the start and push while I still had some confidence. Normally I do things the opposite way and end up riding faster as the race goes on. A few riders who had been behind me caught up with two laps to go, so I had to turn my focus to defending their attacks and shutting all the doors. This little battle at the end was fun, and I didn't lose any places from it. We made some changes just to try something new, but didn’t work on well. That's why we will be back to our normal settings for Indianapolis."