SPANISH Moto2 race rider Héctor Barberá has been banned from driving for a year after being caught under the influence of alcohol.
He was pulled up after being seen practising skids and handbrake turns in his car at 01.15 on Thursday morning on Valencia's C/ Menorca 'in a reckless manner' and 'at high speed'.
Barberá (pictured left, in the baseball cap) was breathalysed in accordance with standard procedure, but police said they could already see he was showing 'clear signs of inebriation' before they did so.
As is always the case with a positive result, Barberá was breathalysed twice with a gap in between to work out when he had last been drinking – a higher result the second time shows that the alcohol consumption was very recent.
In the Moto2 rider's case, though the second result, at 0.67, was lower than the first, 0.69, but was still over three-and-a-half times the legal limit of 0.2 milligrams of alcohol per litre of breath.
The legal limit varies according to the person, his or her constitution and whether or not he or she has eaten recently, but is typically less than a standard glass of wine or 330ml (half-pint) of beer.
As a result, Barberá has been sentenced to 22 days' community service and forced to pay legal costs, as well as a driving ban of one year.
This is not likely to affect his being able to take part in Moto2 competitions, however.
Barberá has allegedly been arrested at least once before for drink-driving, according to police.
Five years ago, he and his girlfriend reported each other for domestic violence, leading to a six-month suspended prison sentence which was exchanged for the same period of community service in both cases.
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