Hector Barbera had his first taste of his 2016 Ducati last season when he subbed for injured Andrea Iannone in red during the flyaways – but the Spaniard is finding the switch from his previous machine a challenge.
P16 on combined timings and P18 on Day 3, Barbera did a 2:00.537 on the third and final day, putting in 50 laps.
With so much different on the bike, Barbera has been and will continue focusing on the front end as he searches for the best solution for a lack of feeling, with testing next to take place at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in two weeks.
“I didn’t get on well with the front end and find the feeling I wanted – that’s the biggest limitation I have at the moment.” Said Barbera
“We’ve been trying a lot of things and I tried to push but then I fell off – and I’m not a rider who crashes very often. But with this bike,”
“when I rode it for the first time at Ducati last season I suffered two front end crashes in races, and I fell off the same.”
“We have to work on improving the feeling with the front. We’re trying to find the same things as we had in the bike last year,” He added
“But this one is a completely different bike and we have to change tack and reset for the next test in Australia. We’re within a second even when struggling and testing is for trying things out and improving.”
“We have to find the right path at Phillip Island and keep improving to arrive at the first race in the best shape.”