HÉCTOR BARBERÁ AND JORGE LORENZO SECOND AND
THIRD FASTEST ON OPENING DAY AT VALENCIA
The Fortuna Aprilia team got off on the right foot at the
Grand Prix of Valencia as both its riders qualified on the
provisional front row of the grid. Héctor Barberá
set the second fastest time, just 0.043 seconds behind pacesetter
Hiroshi Aoyama. Jorge Lorenzo was third fastest after riding
his second bike and running into traffic at the end of the
session. Andrea Dovizioso, the only man capable of denying
Lorenzo of the 250cc title, completes the provisional front
row. Both Fortuna Aprilia riders are confident of improving
their performance in tomorrow’s final practice sessions,
when they will aim to defend their front row positions in
front of the Spanish fans.
HECTOR BARBERA, 2nd (1.36.025)
“I found it tough to get on the pace in the afternoon
but in the end the lap time was good and so was the position.
I like this circuit and the support from the crowd makes you
feel stronger. I’ve got my confidence back and I’m
ready for a top race. The team have been great to me this
season and we want to finish the job with a top result. I
want to help the team win the World Championship and if Jorge
needs me I will be there.”
JORGE LORENZO, 3rd (1.36.504)
“I tried to enjoy myself today because that is the
best way to go fast. We can win but we know there is a difficult
challenge ahead of us. I just want to ride as I have all season
and hopefully everything will go well. I could be nervous
but when I think that I am in a position that every rider
on the grid would like to be in then that disappears. There
is something important on the line but I have to enjoy myself
and I did that today even though the times might not reflect
that. We had a slight electrical fault on the first bike and
ended the session with the second one, a bit like in Portugal.
Tomorrow we’ll continue working and I’m sure the
lap times will come down.”
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