Excellent third position for Barrier

The weather was not very enjoyable on Friday for the first day of practice on the famous Nürburgring track. Sylvain Barrier did a good job adapting to the tricky conditions. He was third on a very wet and slippery track.

The championship leader Xavier Simeon was the fastest under the rain, and behind him the gaps were impressive between the different riders. It was not easy at all to keep a good balance and 9 riders fell during the 45 minutes of the first free practice session. The weather is supposed to be better on Sunday. At least we hope it will be warmer as the air temperature was only 11° Celsius on Friday.

Sylvain Barrier : “I was a bit stressed in the beginning of the session because I have not been riding recently in this kind of conditions. I think the last time I rode on the wet was at Donington in June. But stressing is useless and I relaxed progressively. Later on, I got scared one time when I lost the front in the last corner. Finally, that session was useful for us to tune the bike properly for the wet conditions. It’s going better and better.”

Michel Garnier (team manager) : “It was a good wet session for us. Our team accomplished its mission. Sylvain is only 0.6 behind the rider in second position. He had to be careful in the rain. It was a very good afternoon for us.”

Results of the first free practice session:
1   19 Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 2′15.737
2 112 Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2′18.226
3   20 Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 2′18.844
4   53 Lammert D. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′19.269
5   22 Lowes A. (GBR) MV Agusta F4 312 R 2′20.440
6     8 Antonelli A. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 2′21.501
7   71 Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′21.801
8   21 Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR 1000RR 2′22.029
9   34 Giugliano D. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′22.093
10   7 Mähr R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′22.724
11  69 Jezek O. (CZE) Honda CBR 1000RR 2′23.362
12 111 Ortega I. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2′24.305 …