Although it has not been officially confirmed by all parties, it is said that Hector Barbera has already signed to join the Pramac Ducati team for the 2012 season. Barbera’s only other real option was to look at CRT offers, but he has decided to stay in the Ducati family as the sole rider in a one bike Pramac Ducati team.

A brave, but understandable move – however, I can’t see Barbera getting too excited, or motivated at the thought of yet another season fighting for top 10 positions on tricky machinery. But if there is no place else to go, then I guess a move sideways is all you have.

Hector Barbera talks about today’s qualifying session at Sepang below:

Hector Barbera:
“To be honest I am in a lot of discomfort. Hopefully it will improve as the weekend progresses because I can’t race like this. I could only manage five laps this morning and it was tough to deal with the pain. I felt a bit better this afternoon but I needed an injection and even then it’s tough. I didn’t have much feeling on the bike but I guess that’s normal,” said Barbera.

“When you are in pain you try to adopt a more comfortable position and that unbalances the bike. I can’t load the weight as I would like, I can’t be aggressive. I came here because I felt good and the arm was responding well but the big problem is my ribs. I am going to work with the physio tonight to see if I can be in better shape tomorrow. Even though it was a tough day it was good to be back on the bike.”

Barbera and the Aspar Ducati team have vowed to make a variety of set-up changes to boost results – however, Mugello is a tough and demanding track with lots of challenging corners, as well as having the longest straight on the GP calendar, so they have got their work cut out for themselves.

Héctor Barberá:
“We saw at Assen that the set-up we have been working with has no room to progress so we decided to take a step backwards. The idea is to take one step back and two forwards so we plan to go back to something more like the set-up we had at the start of the year, which we have drifted away from lately. We can’t afford to have another race like the one in Holland so this weekend we will be working around the clock to be ready for the race. I like Mugello and I hope that the weather is good to us so that we can complete all the work we have planned.”

His impressive speed in Qatar throughout Practice and Qualifying caught everyone’s attention, but he failed to turn it to his advantage come race-day.

Héctor Barberá:
“The Spanish Grand Prix always has a special flavour to it and with this being our first race in Spain this year I am extra motivated. I want to put Qatar behind us. Practice there went perfectly but the race didn’t. We have a lot of experience behind us now and I think we can carry it through to the race this time. We know our potential has improved drastically from last year and that we can perform at a high level. As far as I am concerned I will keep giving my all every time to close the gap to the lead riders. Jerez is a circuit that I think will suit our bike, especially in terms of its acceleration. It also has a lot of fast corners and that is what I love, as well as being one of the strong points of the Ducati.”

8th Héctor Barberá:
“I am very happy and think that the post-Grand Prix test that we did at Jerez was very important for us. We found a few adjustments that have really worked out. The team worked very well this weekend; despite us losing our way a little, they prepared a very good bike for the race. I was second-to-last on the grid, and my thinking was that only one rider could overtake me and I had nothing to lose. With this idea in mind, the goal was to enjoy the race -something that I hadn’t yet been able to do. I discovered early on that the left-handers were difficult for me, as the tyres didn’t have a chance to get up to temperature on that side. I started to get more confident as the laps progressed, although when I had a light coming together with Aoyama I lost a few positions. Then I made another fightback and got up to eighth. I am highly satisfied, because the front end feeling was finally good for me. I am aware that my over-exuberance in the first two races stopped me from doing well, but the goal for this race was to not lose touch of the group ahead. I achieved this and for that reason I can be happy.”

Héctor Barberá 1.57.223 (74 laps):
“The evening started really well because I hadn’t been on track long before I started to match my times from the first day. I felt more and more comfortable on the bike and that allowed us to try some different things. It is always a drain on your time and energy because some things work and some don’t. Either way all these tests have enabled me to see things more clearly and understand the bike more. The most important thing about this last session was that I set my best time riding alone. It is also positive that I did so many laps and stayed consistent on new and old tyres. Every time I get on the Ducati I improve a lot, but obviously the level is very high – you can make up ten positions with just half a second. The overall reflection of the preseason is that it was short because six days is not a long time when everything is so new. Anyway, we have met our initial objectives and I think we’re ready for the first race of the year. We have potential and I whilst don’t want to get ahead of myself I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think we could challenge for the top ten.”

Héctor Barberá 1.33.787 (57 laps):
“I am really happy because over the last three days we have improved every time we have been out onto the track and in the end we’ve set a respectable lap time. I felt very comfortable on the Ducati and I did a lot of laps – I couldn’t get enough of it! The physical demands are much higher so I will have to adapt to it slowly because my shoulders and forearms were very tired today. That could also be due to the fact that with the GP and the test we’ve been non-stop for six days now. The first lap I did on Monday was chaos – I couldn’t find a single reference point because everything was so different but with a little patience and a lot of hard work I have established a good feeling with the bike. I think I will have to build my strength up, although not too much because I can’t afford to put any bulk on. It is a case of building up muscle endurance. Today was the most fun I had on the bike from the start. As soon as I went out I was on the pace of my quickest lap from yesterday and I improved from there. We tried the harder tyres for the first time and I went even faster. We also tried a softer rear shock and a few other settings that allowed me to understand the bike better. I realised above all that when you’re picking the bike up you have to really use your body and start doing it in the middle of the corner because if you don’t the bike doesn’t respond as well when you open the throttle.”