Barbera revels in CRT breakthrough
Hector Barbera celebrated his first victory in the CRT class at the US MotoGP at Laguna Seca.
The Avintia Blusens rider's task was made considerably easier after runaway CRT leader Aleix Espargaro slid off in the early stages of the race, while Espargaro's Power Electronics team-mate, Randy de Puniet, was ruled out with a technical problem.
Nonetheless, Barbera rode an impressive race to finish 10th overall, battling with fellow CRT rider Colin Edwards and Alex de Angelis, who replaced the injured Ben Spies on the Pramac Ducati at Laguna.
Barbera trailed De Angelis on the final lap of the 32-lap race, but produced a superb effort to overhaul the Ducati rider and seal a solid 10th place finish in America.
"Finally first CRT and first time that we have been in the parc ferm? next to the three first riders of the race," said Barbera.
"I am very happy because it is a great result that the team deserved. It has been a hard race because there have been a lot of laps and we knew that with our tyres we were going to suffer because it was hotter than the last days and we have ridden with the soft ones.
"I have had a very nice fight with Colin and, especially with De Angelis, with whom we have overtaken four times on the last lap to achieve the tenth position," he added.
"It is true that Espargaro has fallen and that has helped us to get the win in the category, but anyway I think that it is a very good result and a well-deserved one."
