Pramac French GP qualifying report

PROMISING THIRD ROW FOR THE PRAMAC TEAM IN LE MANS

Today’s qualifying session at Le Mans for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of France was a brilliant session for the sole Ducati Pramac rider Hèctor Barberà, who has been consistently quick on this track.

Hector Barbera, Pramac Racing Team

Photo by: Pramac Racing

Due to a threat of rain this morning after the final free practice session, the surface of the French circuit was wet and for the first half of the hour long qualifying session , didn't allow the riders to improve upon yesterday's lap time. Fortunately, lap after lap, the session dried out with 30 minutes to go and all the Premier Class riders were able to lower their best lap time. Hèctor, who had finished in 8th place yesterday in the combined free practice, had to settle for a great 9th place, which earned him the third row just behind Valentino Rossi in the French Grand Prix, scheduled for tomorrow at 14.00 local time.

Hèctor Barberà – Pramac Racing Team Rider – 9th place in 1'34.950

“Beautiful day, I'm really pleased with how i rode and for the great work of my team. We are less than 0.3 second away from the second row and I hope that we can fight for the fourth consecutive top ten finish in tomorrow's race. The feeling with my GP12 is strong with dry condition and that allowed me to have a very interesting race pace. Certainly, if there are rainy conditions tomorrow, everything will change, but I know that my crew already have ideas to be able to be fast even in the case of a wet race. Now I have to say thanks again to my guys because they have worked really well one more time and this allowed me to improve my confidence with my Desmosedici.”

Francesco Guidotti – Pramac Racing Team Manager -

“This is an excellent result for Hèctor and us. We have achieved the third row in less than ideal and suitable conditions for Hèctor's riding style and this gives us a lot of confidence for tomorrow's race. Of course, regarding his race pace, I hope for a dry Grand Prix, even if the weather forecast for tomorrow is rain.”