Quattro Plant Kawasaki Signs Ex-MotoGP Star Héctor Barberá
Ex-MotoGP star Héctor Barberá has signed a deal to join Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki for the rest of the season.
The 32-year-old Spanish rider, who made over 130 starts in MotoGP between 2010 and 2017, has joined the reigning BSB champions on a full-time basis following Glenn Irwin’s departure last month.
Barberá made his BSB debut for Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki earlier in the year at Donington Park while deputising for the injured Ben Currie. He managed to secure sixth and eighth place finishes and scored pole position for the final race in the triple-header weekend.
The 2015 Open class champion also claimed an impressive seventh-place finish on his first visit to Snetterton while standing in for Glenn Irwin who was out through illness.
Team Owner Pete Extance is confident Barberá can help to turn around the team’s season following a challenging first half.
“We’re delighted Héctor is joining the team,” said Pete. “He has shown he can be a front runner in BSB after some good results at Donington and Snetterton earlier in the year.
“Thruxton was always going to be a difficult round; an engine issue in FP1 and a huge crash in FP2 put him on the back foot straight away. Having to contend with injuries while trying to learn the circuit meant he was playing catch up all weekend.
“We look forward to him being on the Quattro Plant JG Speedfit ZX10-RR for the rest of the season. For sure he is excited to be in BSB full-time and especially looking forward to the tracks he knows well like Assen, Donington Park and Brands GP.”
Commenting on the announcement Héctor said: “I am very happy for this; sometimes in life you have bad news but sometimes you have very good news like this.
“I need to take advantage of this opportunity because I want to stay in this championship for the foreseeable future. I love the championship; the fans are incredible, and I am very grateful to the Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki team for this chance to prove myself.”
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Notes for editors:
- The line-up for Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki consists of British Superbike riders Héctor Barberá and Ben Currie, road racing specialist James Hillier, and sidecar teams Ricky Stevens/Ryan Charlwood and Ben Holland/Lee Watson.
- The team is owned by Bournemouth Kawasaki Racing.
- Héctor made his MotoGP debut in 2010 and in 2016 had his most successful MotoGP season finishing with 102 points.
- He competed in Moto2 in 2018 before switching to WorldSSP with the Kawasaki Puccetti racing team while Australian Ben Currie finished second overall in the 2018 Dickies British Supersport Championship.
- 2015 and 2016 British F1 Sidecar Champions Ricky Stevens and Ryan Charlwood are being retained by Bournemouth Kawasaki for the third year running under the Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki team.
- Stevens/Charlwood will be aiming to reclaim the championship title, alongside new teammates Ben Holland and Lee Watson, after finishing fourth overall and second in the 600 Cup in 2018.
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