Zoom Héctor Barbera

Starting from pole for the second time this year Hector Barbera´s hopes were high as he went into the Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini 250cc contest.

The Team Toth Aprilia rider attempted to get away at the front in the early running but got caught up in a hard fight with Marco Simoncelli, not for the first time this season.

“It was a good podium”, stated Barbera. “I think a good podium is when you win, or when you have done a good job throughout the weekend. This time when the crucial moment arrived it was taken out of our hands. I tried to get away but I couldn´t keep up a really fast pace and Simoncelli overtook me but he didn´t escape at the front. He was getting in my way and I got in front again. Then we got caught up in a bit of a fight, overtaking each other on the limit and that slowed us both down so everyone else caught up with us.”

“It was a shame because I would have liked to have gone into the last lap fighting like that, battling cleanly like we had been doing, but Simoncelli braked outside the racing line and crashed.”

Simoncelli of course picked himself up to finish sixth, but another local rider Mattia Pasini was also involved in an incident with Barbera that resulted in a crash and a DNF at his home GP – both Italian riders stating their anger at the feisty Spaniard´s tactics after the race.

Commenting on his duel with the Polaris World rider, Barbera said, “With Pasini it was sad for him. He left a gap and I put myself in there. It is a fast corner and he was right at my side, he had left the door open, he tired to close the line and I was in his path. It was just a racing incident. I said sorry for my part but maybe both of us were at fault. That´s racing.”

The fourth podium appearance of the year for Barbera puts him fourth in the standings, 48 points behind leader Simoncelli and 21 behind third placed rider Alvaro Bautista – who won Sunday´s race.

© DORNA / CAPSIS International