Avintia confirms unchanged line-up of Barbera, Baz for 2017
Avintia Racing will keep the same line-up of Hector Barbera and Loris Baz for the 2017 MotoGP season, the team has announced.
Photo by: Avintia Racing
Both riders currently make use of two-year-old Ducati GP14.2s, but Barbera has been upgraded to a year-old Desmosedici GP. Baz will continue on the older GP15 machine.
Prior to the confirmation, Avintia had been in talks with Aprilia rider Stefan Bradl for the seat alongside Barbera, but discussions fell through as the German chose instead to join Honda's World Superbike effort.
“We are really happy to continue one more year with Hector and Loris, because they are good riders and even better persons," said team manager Agustin Escobar.
"Hector is already showing his potential, and I think Loris can get the good feeling back that he had during the winter tests and show that he has more speed than what he had so far this season.
"I’m sure that next season, with the new bikes, both will get better results. I also want to thank Ducati for they support and I hope to reward them with great results.”
Barbera, 29, joined the Avintia team back in 2013 after stints with Aspar and Pramac, making 2017 his fourth successive season at the Madrid-based team.
Baz only joined the team this year, after his debut season with the now-defunct Forward Racing squad, and missed two races earlier this year due to foot injuries sustained at Mugello.
Currently, Avintia sits seventh in the teams' standings with 74 points, 65 of which have been scored by Barbera - who is the top Ducati rider in the riders' table in seventh place overall.
Aspar Ducati is now the only team with seats available for 2017, with Alvaro Bautista, Yonny Hernandez and Eugene Laverty all in contention.
2017 MotoGP grid so far:
| Team | Riders |
|---|---|
| Yamaha |
|
| Honda |
|
| Ducati |
|
| Suzuki |
|
| Aprilia |
|
| KTM |
|
| Tech 3 Yamaha |
|
| LCR Honda |  Cal Crutchlow |
| Marc VDS Honda |
|
| Pramac Ducati |
|
| Avintia Ducati |
|
| Aspar Ducati | TBA |
Valentino Rossi
Maverick Vinales
Jonas Folger
Johann Zarco
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