Barberá: "Motegi is a very special track for me"

The Mapfre Aspar rider heads to Japan with high expectations after his success in Aragón, though he acknowledges that Motegi is the track where he suffered the most serious injury of his career.

After finishing ninth at Misano and eighth in the most recent race at Aragón MAPFRE Aspar rider Héctor Barberá is gradually establishing himself as one of the men to watch in MotoGP. The Spaniard and his team are in excellent form and the results are testament to their continually improving relationship. Motegi holds mixed memories for Héctor, who suffered a serious injury there during his 250cc career but has since enjoyed some good races at the Japanese track.

Héctor Barberá:
“Motegi is a very special circuit for me, firstly because I had my first big injury there but came back to recover and continue with my life and my career when things could have turned out a lot worse. I also have great memories of Japan because I took some of my first wins there and I have a lot of admiration for the Japanese people. To go there now and put on a show for them is a good way for us to help out with the difficulties they are going through. Motegi is a balanced track with some hard braking zones, which I love, and I think that with the form we are in it would be a good weekend for. Thanks to the great job the team is doing we are consistently fighting to be the top Ducati and the objective is to continue with this level of consistency. I feel very highly motivated.”

MAPFRE Aspar press release.