Barbera to replace Iannone again in Australia

Spaniard remains on call up for Phillip Island as Italian recovers from Misano injury

Hector Barbera is set to remain at the Ducati Team for the Australian GP, as the Spanish veteran keeps the seat of Andrea Iannone for another race weekend. Iannone, who fractured a vertebra at his home round in Misano, is not quite 100% - and will miss another race during his window of recuperation.

In Motegi, Barbera was a direct entrant to Q2 and was having a solid race until a front end crash saw him head home early, but will back out on track in Australia to bring home points for Ducati – and learn more about the machine that he will man next year at Avintia Racing.

Hector Barbera: “For me it was a fantastic opportunity to ride the 2016 Desmosedici GP and race for a factory squad like the Ducati Team and so I want to thank both Ducati and Avintia Racing for giving me this opportunity. For me it was all new: in fact, I didn’t know either the bike or the guys in the team, but after every session the situation improved a lot. Unfortunately in the race I was not able to get a good start, especially because the clutch is very different to the one I normally use, and I immediately lost two positions. I took a bit of time to pass Petrucci and then I caught Pol Espargarò, who I tried to overtake several times, until I tried with even more decision and unfortunately I crashed. I feel bad about it because I think that today I could have finished in fifth or sixth place. In any case I picked the bike up to finish the race, but in the crash the two wings had broken off and I was no longer able to ride it well. However it was a great experience and I am very happy that I have been given another chance next week at Phillip Island.”