Héctor Barberá got the better of home competitor Mattia Pasini after a fantastic challenge with the Italian at Misano on Sunday to finish over the line just 0.04s ahead of his opponent and claim his first victory since round one at the Losail International Circuit.

While the majority were in for a hard fight between World Champion Marco Simoncelli, who ultimately smashed, and championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama and Álvaro Bautista, who finally placed fourth and third respectively, it was Barberá and Pasini who became the protagonists.

Barberá, who will competein MotoGP next season on an Aspar Ducati engine, has appeared with flashes of excellent form over the year since his Qatar victory and it finally ensued for him on Sunday in Italy.

“I’m delighted,” he states following the event. “We knew it would be a tough, 26 laps in the heat, with the tyres taking a real pounding. But we were doing a good job in preparation and I was confident of a good result.”

“In one sense it’s frustrating because in Brno and Indianapolis we should have had better results and only a problem with the tyres and then an error from me, also with the tyres, has prevented me from achieving those results. That is a shame when I think about the championship. But our objective is to keep trying for race wins and if possible finish in the top three in the standings.”