Tagged: Hector Barbera

Jerez Grand Prix Free Practice 2 results and times: Lorenzo stays at the front, Crutchlow leaps to 2nd ahead of Pedrosa

A power cut meant FP2 started almost ten minutes late, but it was still Jorge Lorenzo who looked the class act in Jerez, leading Cal Cruthclow by 0.171 seconds. Dani Pedrosa may have slipped to 3rd, but at just 0.024, the margin is small. Lorenzo’s teammate, Valentino Rossi, managed to cling on to 4th place, but for how long is unclear. This is because Marc Marquez, the quick learner that he is, dropped his FP1 time by 0.6 seconds to climb to 5th, just 0.327 behind Lorenzo, and a mere 0.015 behind Rossi.

There were a few fallers this afternoon. Yonny Hernandez and Stefan Bradl both tasted the gravel, although thankfully both avoided injury, whole Danilo Petrucci’s machine began spurting smoke. He prompting pulled it to the side of the track.

Andrea Iannone took over as fastest Ducati, thanks to Nicky Hayden being unable to improve on his FP1 time. Iannone sits a second off the ultimate pace, but, just like in FP1, CRTs are matching the speeds of the Dukes. This time it was Hector Barbera – heavily bruised from a motocross crash midweek – who leads the CRT line, 1.174 behind Lorenzo, and just 0.002 ahead of Aleix Espargaro. The remaining Ducatis sit a tenth behind.

FP2 times:

Pos. Rider Team Time Lead. Gap Prev. gap
1 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 1’39.562
2 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’39.733 0.171 0.171
3 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’39.757 0.195 0.024
4 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha Factory Racing 1’39.874 0.312 0.117
5 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1’39.889 0.327 0.015
6 Alvaro BAUTISTA GO&FUN Honda Gresini 1’40.507 0.945 0.618
7 Andrea IANNONE Energy T.I. Pramac Racing 1’40.574 1.012 0.067
8 Hector BARBERA Avintia Blusens 1’40.736 1.174 0.162
9 Aleix ESPARGARO Power Electronics Aspar 1’40.738 1.176 0.002
10 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’40.837 1.275 0.099
11 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 1’40.884 1.322 0.047
12 Michele PIRRO Ducati Test Team 1’40.902 1.34 0.018
13 Bradley SMITH Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’40.990 1.428 0.088
14 Stefan BRADL LCR Honda MotoGP 1’41.053 1.491 0.063
15 Randy DE PUNIET Power Electronics Aspar 1’41.078 1.516 0.025
16 Danilo PETRUCCI Came IodaRacing Project 1’41.751 2.189 0.673
17 Hiroshi AOYAMA Avintia Blusens 1’41.774 2.212 0.023
18 Claudio CORTI NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1’41.790 2.228 0.016
19 Colin EDWARDS NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1’42.058 2.496 0.268
20 Yonny HERNANDEZ Paul Bird Motorsport 1’42.603 3.041 0.545
21 Bryan STARING GO&FUN Honda Gresini 1’42.606 3.044 0.003
22 Michael LAVERTY Paul Bird Motorsport 1’42.974 3.412 0.368
23 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’43.356 3.794 0.382
24 Lukas PESEK Came IodaRacing Project 1’43.403 3.841 0.047

MotoGP Jerez test times, 23-25 March: Day 2

Millions of fans clad in highlighter-yellow rejoice as Valentino Rossi tops the timesheets once again. Of the 46 laps he did – maybe he did 46 on purpose – the 29th was a 1:39.525, so he actually dipped below Jorge Lorenzo’s pole set last year. The gap back to Lorenzo in the test is 0.015 seconds, but Rossi is undoubtedly filled with confidence.

The Hondas didn’t make it into the top three, Cal Crutchlow nabbing third spot and sits only 0.049 seconds behind Rossi. It seems the layout of Jerez favours the handling prowess of the M1. Dani Pedrosa was just over a tenth behind the leader, and then a small gap opened up to the rest of the riders. Still, gap or no gap, the rider sitting in 5th fastest was a real surprise; Andrea Dovizioso. Only eight tenths of a second behind Rossi, the Italian might have just nailed the setup of the Ducati to be at least within touching distance of competitiveness. It looks unlikely to be a Ducati-wide fix though as Andrea Iannone sits 9th and Nicky Hayden 10th, both well over a second behind Rossi’s leading time.

It appears that Marc Marquez may have hit a wall in his rider development. He knows Jerez, but not on a MotoGP machine and was lapping almost 1.2 seconds behind Rossi, and a second slower than Pedrosa. Jerez is a tight track, and getting to grips with the extra size and power of a MotoGP machine might finally be causing Marquez some issues. He mentioned that the lines he needs to take are different to the ones he used on a Moto2 machine, and unlearning the track is taking some time. It’s only day 2 though, and we’ll know more tomorrow about whether he’s really struggling or just in a bit of a rut.

It looks like some of the CRT machines are really motoring. The lead CRT was Hector Barbera on board the FTR Kawasaki. With a time only 0.051 slower than Hayden, and 1.8 behind Rossi, everyone should be impressed with the effort put in. In fact, Aleix Espargaro was also under two seconds slower than Rossi, and all the riders going way back to 22nd placed man Colin Edwards were within 2.7 seconds of the fastest time. However, further improvement to catch the prototypes is going to be almost impossible. This two and a bit second gap is likely to be as close as you’ll see a CRT machine to the leaders all year, a result of the Jerez track being a short one, and the layout apparently hindering the prototypes.

Day 2:

Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Lead. Gap Prev. Gap Laps
1 ROSSI, Valentino Yamaha Factory Racing Team 1:39.525 29 / 46
2 LORENZO, Jorge Yamaha Factory Racing Team 1:39.540 0.015 0.015 22 / 34
3 CRUTCHLOW, Cal Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1:39.574 0.049 0.034 29 / 44
4 PEDROSA, Dani Repsol Honda Team 1:39.630 0.105 0.056 31 / 31
5 DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Ducati Team 1:40.322 0.797 0.692 21 / 30
6 BAUTISTA, Alvaro GO&FUN Honda Gresini 1:40.686 1.161 0.364 25 / 35
7 MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 1:40.714 1.189 0.028 21 / 36
8 BRADL, Stefan LCR Honda MotoGP 1:40.783 1.258 0.069 30 / 32
9 IANNONE, Andrea Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team 1:41.088 1.563 0.305 15 / 15
10 HAYDEN, Nicky Ducati Team 1:41.325 1.800 0.237 29 / 35
11 BARBERA, Hector Avintia Blusens 1:41.376 1.851 0.051 22 / 25
12 SMITH, Bradley Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1:41.398 1.873 0.022 28 / 41
13 ESPARGARO, Aleix Power Electronics Aspar 1:41.444 1.919 0.046 44 / 48
14 PETRUCCI, Danilo Came IodaRacing Project 1:41.529 2.004 0.085 31 / 32
15 PIRRO, Michele Ducati Test Team 1:41.603 2.078 0.074 25 / 32
16 DE PUNIET, Randy Power Electronics Aspar 1:41.686 2.161 0.083 24 / 34
17 CORTI, Claudio NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1:41.701 2.176 0.015 24 / 26
18 SPIES, Ben Ignite Pramac Racing Team 1:41.702 2.177 0.001 28 / 29
19 ABRAHAM, Karel Cardion AB Motoracing 1:41.916 2.391 0.214 23 / 35
20 HERNANDEZ, Yonny Paul Bird Motorsport 1:42.050 2.525 0.134 21 / 32
21 STARING, Bryan GO&FUN Honda Gresini 1:42.107 2.582 0.057 39 / 39
22 EDWARDS, Colin NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1:42.154 2.629 0.047 31 / 33
23 AOYAMA, Hiroshi Avintia Blusens 1:43.959 4.434 1.805 25 / 25
24 LAVERTY, Michael Paul Bird Motorsport 1:44.185 4.660 0.226 16 / 21
25 PESEK, Lukas Came IodaRacing Project 1:44.874 5.349 0.689 25 / 33

MotoGP Sepang test 1, 5-7 February: The roundup…Pedrosa hits three in a row

As has been the case with MotoGP of late, the riders seem to compete in a few distinct groups. At the top is Dan Pedrosa, followed closely by Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez. These were the fastest and most consistent riders, with Pedrosa completing all three days at the top.

A quick note about Marquez. He seems to be every bit the rider we wanted him to be, and the rider the series might need to attract more fans and grow. An aggressive style, super fast and even strong media skills, he has been instantly fast, faster than he has any right to be, and was consistently at the sharp end of things. It’s a long shot for him to go for the title, but on this form podiums are definitely in sight come race time.

Interestingly, it looks like Cal Crutchlow is the man that’s come out of winter training best. He ended just a tenth off of Marquez’s time and had clear daylight behind him to Stefan Bradl. If there’s a space for a fifth rider to mix it with the above riders, he’s your man.

Ducati. The marque still struggles, and the two second gap to Pedrosa is large. Very large. We all want Ducati to be up their challenging, but at this rate, Nicky Hayden and co will not be having a fun year.

The CRTs are looking good. Aleix Espargaro especially seemed to drag lap time out of his ART Aprilia and ending just 2.5 seconds off of the leaders, on a track with such long straights, is encouraging stuff. Michael Laverty too impressed, and although he’ll be using a different Aprilia powered machine during the season, his times and skill will shut up many who said he shouldn’t be here.

The rest of the CRTs were performing much as we’d expect, 4 second plus off the pace. Randy De Puniet was 1.4 seconds behind his teammate Espargaro, which must be worrying him, and he has Hector Barbera breathing down his neck. The CRT competition looks pretty tight, all in all, and should give us some decent racing.

MotoGP CRT Sepang test 3-4 February: The roundup…the luckless CRTs

I’d love to be able to go into loads of detail and analyse everything…but unfortunately the main thing that’s clear is that the CRT bikes on test so far are not ready. Yes the weather didn’t help on day 2, but electrical issues and engine problems are tricky to fix, and before you go fast, this is the kind of thing that needs to be under control. Without a decent ECU it’s also clear the CRTs will struggle to compete with the satellite prototype machines, regardless of whether they can make use of the extra fuel they’ll have access to. As for the riders? Well Hector Barbera gets his head down and will ride anything hard, Danilo Petrucci the similar, while Colin Edwards just doesn’t look or sound happy with his choice of riding a CRT machine.

MotoGP CRT Sepang test times, 3-4 February: Day 2

How do you make a test schedule that’s already been affected by machine problems worse? Add some rain. And that’s exactly what happened to the CRT teams in the second day of testing at Sepang.

The good news for Danilo Petrucci is that he ended up on top of the timing sheets. The bad news was that he only managed 4 laps and his time of 2:23.456 was almost 17 seconds slower than his time from day 1, due to wet weather. When the teams go testing they need to test the bikes to the max, not run around 17 seconds off their best pace. He had plenty of electrical problems too, meaning team mate Lukas Pesek got the valuable Magneti Marelli ECU on his bike, and managed 19 laps. He’s been out of GP racing for a couple of seasons and needed time on track to get used to the bike. Wet time is better than no time, but he still needs to adjust to the unusual slick Bridgestones,

Hector Barbera finally got to ride his bike a bit, the team remedying his wiring loom issues in the afternoon, and in 20 laps he was half a second off of Petrucci. His teammate, Hiroshi Aoyama, decided against risking further injury to his recovering wrist on the slippery track and sat out the session.

Colin Edwards and Claudio Corti both managed to get some laps under their belts (hooray!), managing eight and seven respectively. Edwards had a torrid time, ending up last, some 6.5 seconds off the pace. Both machines had problems with the setup of the spec ECU.

Next up on the testing schedule, the CRT teams are joined by the other MotoGP teams at Sepang. If the weather’s good, everyone might just get some work done for a change!

Day 2:

Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Prev. Gap Lead. Gap Laps
1 Danilo PETRUCCI Came IodaRacing Project 2:23.456 4
2 Hector BARBERA Avintia Blusens 2:23.973 0.517 0.517 20
3 Lukas PESEK Came IodaRacing Project 2:24.023 0.050 0.567 19
4 Claudio CORTI NGM Mobile Forward Racing Team 2:24.027 0.004 0.571 7
5 Colin EDWARDS NGM Mobile Forward Racing Team 2:29.973 5.946 6.517 8

MotoGP CRT Sepang test times, 3-4 February: Day 1

It looks like the CRT (Claiming Rule Teams) machines might one day be the future of MotoGP, and for that to happen they need to be faster. That’s why the CRT teams using the new Magneti Marelli spec ECU were given a couple of extra days of testing at Sepang, to help them be more competitive. Turns out this test was pretty much just to ensure the bike’s parts fitted properly. The first day didn’t really go as planned.

There wasn’t enough data for the new ECU for the teams to use it properly. So, what Danilo Petrucci did was ride without electronics, a brave thing to do. He topped the timesheets, but only Hiroshi Aoyama managed to get out on track for some laps at speed. With a recovering broken wrist, he was taking it easy. Petrucci’s time was some two seconds slower than his best time over the Sepang race weekend, and the team still need to sort a base setting for the bike. Anyway, he fared better than other riders.

Aoyama’s problems didn’t end with his painful wrist. His Avintia Blusens team spent most of the day trying to sort out wiring loom problems, so he only had half an hour to ride the bike. Hector Barbera, his teammate, had similar issues and managed only four laps, his bike suffering from other electronic issues. Even these two fared better than Colin Edwards and Claudio Corti

The NGM Racing team’s parts for its bikes hadn’t arrived in time for the bikes to be put together in time for the test, so they were being built throughout the day. Edwards managed an out lap in the dying minutes of the test, while Corti might as well have stayed in bed as he didn’t even make it out on track. ‘It runs and it burns gasoline,’ said Edwards of his FTR Kawasaki. More than Corti’s then…

Day 1:

Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Prev. Gap Lead. Gap Laps
1 Danilo PETRUCCI Came IodaRacing Project 2:06.841 27
2 Hiroshi AOYAMA Avintia Blusens 2:12.062 5.221 5.221 9
3 Hector BARBERA Avintia Blusens 4
4 Colin EDWARDS NGM Mobile Forward Racing Team 1

MotoGP riders and teams 2013

This year there are 24 riders in MotoGP, and here’s a quick run down of who’s in what team and what bikes they’re running. For a more detailed summary, head over to my MotoGP rider profiles 2013 page.

Yamaha Factory Racing: Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 

Jorge Lorenzo, Spain
DOB: 4th May 1987, 2012 position: 1st, Bike number: 99

Valentino Rossi, Italy
DOB: 16the February 1979, 2012 position: 6th, Bike number 46

Repsol Honda Team – Bike: Honda RC213V

Dani Pedrosa, Spain
DOB: 29th September 1985, 2012 position: 2nd, Bike number: 26

Marc Marquez, Spain
DOB: 17th February 1993, 2012 position (Moto2): 1st, Bike number: 93

Ducati Team – Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP13

Nicky Hayden, USA
DOB: 30th July 1981, 2012 position: 9th, Bike number: 69

Andrea Dovizioso, Italy
DOB: 23rd March 1986, 2012 position: 4th, Bike number: 4

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1

Cal Crutchlow, England
DOB: 29th October 1985, 2012 position: 7th, Bike number: 35

Bradley Smith, England
DOB: 28th November 1990, 2012 position (Moto2): 9th, Bike number: 38

Go&FUN Honda Gresini (Gresini Honda) – Bikes: Honda RC213V (Bautista), FTR Honda (CRT, Staring)

Alvaro Bautista, Spanish
DOB: 21st November 1984, 2012 position: 5th, Bike number: 19

Bryan Staring, Australia
DOB: 1st June 1987, 2012 position (FIM Superstock 1000): 4th, Bike number 67

LCR Honda MotoGP – Bike: Honda RC213V

Stefan Bradl, German
DOB: 29th November 1989, 2012 position: 8th, Bike number: 6

Pramac Racing Team – Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP13 

Ben Spies, USA
DOB: 11th July 1984, 2012 position: 10th, Bike number: 11

Andrea Iannone, Italy
DOB: 9th August 1989, 2012 position (Moto2): 3rd, Bike number: 29

Avintia Blusens (BQR) – Bike: FTR Kawasaki (CRT) 

Hector Barbera, Spain
DOB: 2nd November 1986, 2012 position: 11th, Bike number: 7

Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan
DOB: 25th October 1981, 2012 position: MotoGP 25th (1 race), World Superbikes 18th, Bike number: 8

Power Electronics Aspar – Bike: Aprilia ART (CRT)

Aleix Espargaro, Spain
DOB: 30th July, 1989, 2012 position: 12th, Bike number: 41

Randy De Puniet, France
DOB: 14th February 1981, 2012 position: 13th, Bike number: 14

Cardion AB Motoracing – Bike: ART Aprilia (CRT) 

Karel Abraham, Czech Republic
DOB: 2nd January 1990, 2012 position: 14th, Bike number: 17

Paul Bird Motorsport – Bikes: Aprilia ART (CRT, Hernandez), British designed PBM Aprilia-powered bike (CRT, Laverty) 

Yonny Hernandez, Columbia
DOB: 25th July 1988, 2012 position: 17th, Bike number: 68

Michael Laverty, Northern Ireland
DOB: 7th June 1981, 2012 position (British Superbikes): 5th, Bike number: 70

Came IodaRacing Project (IODA racing) – Bike: Suter BMW (CRT)

Danilo Petrucci, Italy
DOB: 24th October 1990, 2012 position: 19th, Bike number: 9

Lukas Pesek, Czech Republic
DOB: 22nd November 1985, 2012 position: Rode in championships including IDM German Superbikes and IDM Supersport, Bike number: 52

NGM Mobile Forward Racing – Bike: FTR Kawasaki (CRT)

Colin Edwards, USA
DOB: 27th February 1974, 2012 position: 20th, Bike number: 5

Claudio Corti, Italy
DOB: 25th June 1987, 2012 position (Moto2): 14th, Bike number: 71