BARROS TAKES FIGHTING EIGHTH PLACE FOR PRAMAC D’ANTIN
TEAM IN CATALUNYA
 Alex
Barros scored a very satisfactory eighth place for the Pramac
d’Antin team in Catalunya today after the 25-lap Catalunya
GP, round seven of this season’s championship, drew
to an exciting close. The race was won in thrilling style
by Casey Stoner demonstrating a competitive performance with
his Ducati-Bridgestone package around the Catalan circuit
in Montmelò. Even though the “red” of Borgo
Panigale wasn’t considered favourite for this race,
Ducati confirmed substantial improvements and scored top ten
results with three of its riders.
The eighth position scored by Barros after a competitive
race resulted in the Brazilian getting eight important points
for the championship classification which improves his overall
position to eighth. The MotoGP veteran, starting from the
fourteenth position on the starting grid, showed his determination
recovering six important positions during the 25 laps.
His team-mate Alex Hofmann, who obtained a good position
during Saturday’s qualifying practice, did not have
an easy day; because of his difficulties with the bike’s
feeling, he could only obtain thirteenth position, and hopes
to be better at the next race in Donington.
Alex Barros (43’41.769 – 8°
classified): “I’m satisfied for my final result,
I think I was good in this race. For us this week-end it hasn’t
been very easy, we had some difficulties during the two days
before the race, so this morning after the warm-up we decided
to change setting but in the end we understood that it was
better to come back and use the same set-up we had yesterday.
Fortunately I made a good start, but at the first turn, I
made a mistake and I lost some positions. Today, for me, the
race was very hard, in the first part I had difficulties to
recover position and in the second part I had some difficulties
with the front. Unfortunately it didn’t feel as we expected
and we maybe hoped for a bit more from this race; anyway,
the thing that makes me satisfied is that I pushed strongly
from the beginning to the end, fighting for the eighth position
as if it were a podium. I have deep motivation and I hope
to be faster in the next race.”
Alex Hofmann(43’57.841 – 13°
classified): “I’m not satisfied, because this
race wasn’t as I had hoped for. I don’t know the
real reason because after the warm-up in the morning I was
confident to do a good race. When I started, I knew immediately
that I didn’t have the right feeling with the bike.
I did not make a good start, furthermore I lost a lot in acceleration
and I couldn’t be fast as I wanted. During the race
I made some overtaking, but the moves weren’t enough
to obtain a good end result. I’m very displeased with
the race, especially because I wanted to be good for all the
many fans who came here today. Tomorrow we will spend one
day more in Spain to do some tests, I hope to be able to find
the right solution for the next race.”
Luis d’Antin – Team Manager:
“Finally I’m satisfied for this result and the
eighth position is actually quite good. I’m happy for
the team and for Alex Barros, especially after the two previous
days; he wasn’t able to find the right feeling with
his Desmosedici, but today even if he hasn’t the perfect
rhythm, he fought hard to get the best possible result. This
is a further confirmation that the team is working very well
and also in difficult situation has the right spirit to go
on. I would like to compliment the team, for us it is very
important to get a good result at the Catalunya Grand Prix,
there were a lot of fans and sponsors who came to support
us, and it was important to say thank you with a good race.”
Official Time:
1° Casey Stoner: 43’16.907
2° Valentino Rossi: 43’16.976
3° Dani Pedrosa: 43’17.297
4° John Hopkins: 43’24.761
5° Randy de Puniet: 43’34.760
8° Alex Barros: 43’41.769
13°Alex Hofmann: 43’57.841
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