Héctor Barberá's bike theft sparks end of motorsport career

FORMER MotoGP rider Héctor Barberá has retired suddenly after his bike was stolen from the pits on Sunday, forcing him to scratch from the SuperSport world championship at MotorLand (Alcañiz, Teruel province).

Barberá, who switched to SuperSport last year after being dropped by Moto2 team Pons Racing due to a drink-driving charge and loss of his licence, says the theft - as yet unresolved - is the last straw in a series of frustrations that have left him angry and disappointed.

Already, his participation in Sunday's race in Aragón was doubtful, since his Yamaha barely dragged its way around 10 laps of the circuit due to the engine being so worn out.

It has 1,600 kilometres on the clock, and motorcycle race riders are normally recommended to replace their engines after 1,500 kilometres - ideally less, if they want to remain competitive.

He announced on Instagram the same day that he was retiring from motorsport.

"That's what we've been driven to. For my own and other riders' safety I can't race today, we don't have the means, and what started out as a dream has ended as a nightmare," he lamented.

The 32-year-old from Dos Aguas, Valencia province also said that the 'problems with non-payment and failure to meet contract terms' between 'what was supposed to be our main sponsor, and the team' have, Barberá said, 'made this SSP adventure end today, at home', on a circuit that he was 'especially excited about' and where he was 'not even able to race'.

"We started out this project with real excitement, using all the equipment for the first time in Australia without any training, with a bike that was practically a street bike, and even then, with the bare minimum of what we needed in technical terms, we managed to finish fourth.

"After that the financial problems started, and this meant we had to race in Thailand with hardly any spare tyres and an engine with too many kilometres on the clock. It's the same here [in Teruel], but we can't eke out what we've got any longer, and for reasons of responsibility, I can't go out onto the circuit."

Barberá says that having reached fourth in the world championship standings with such inferior tools, he 'could have been really competitive' with the right equipment and 'attained his goal for this year'.

"The team [Toth] was also excited - from the owner down to the most junior mechanic," Barberá reveals.

"It makes me so angry, because I'm doing okay and working like never before. But I'm going to give in and just carry on training so I'm ready for if any chance comes up of carrying on with what I love most."

He concluded by saying he felt terrible for his fans, those who had bought tickets to watch the race at MotorLand, and 'all the people who are always supporting' him.

Barberá raced in MotoGP from 2010 to 2017 inclusive, mostly with Avintia Racing although for one season with the Ducati factory team, and his highest position in the world championship standings was 11th.

For 2018, by which time he had been racing for just over half his life, Barberá took the unusual decision to drop down to Moto2, joining team Pons Racing.

The idea was to give him a better chance of winning the world championship by competing at a lower level, but this strategy was brought to a sudden halt last July when a drink-driving charge - his fourth criminal conviction and third serious driving offence - saw Pons Racing terminate his contract, leaving him bike-less for the rest of the season.

This provoked his move to SuperSport.

Barberá was in trouble with the police for three years running: in 2012, for speeding and jumping several red lights and being over the alcohol limit; in 2013, after he and his then girlfriend had a mutual punch-up, and in 2014 when he was caught driving a Maserati despite his ban from 2012 still being in place.

 

Photograph by Pons Racing HP40