---
title: "Barbera secures tenth in the championship"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2016/11/14/barbera-secures-tenth-championship/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "MotoGP News"
published: "2016-11-14T14:24:40Z"
modified: "2016-11-14T14:25:17Z"
---

# Barbera secures tenth in the championship

Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera ends the 2016 season having achieved his goal of finishing 10th in the world championship standings, after the Spaniard took the chequered flag in Valencia in 13th.

Barbera has enjoyed his best season to date in the premier class. The Avintia rider has scored on all but three occasions in 2016, taking his best ever result two weeks ago in Sepang in fourth. That put him into ninth in the standings and a point clear of factory Ducati rider Andrea Iannone coming into the season finale in Spain.

The Avintia rider was determined more than ever to put on a strong showing, as the Grand Prix of Valencia is his home race. Knowing it would be hard to stay ahead of Iannone, who went onto finish third in the race, Barbera made sure he protected his 10th position in the standings and rode a clever race on Sunday to take 13th.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/11/602351046.jpg)

Barbera ends the season only 10 points adrift of Iannone on 102 points and third Ducati rider overall. Had it not been for his two-race excursion with the factory team, Barbera feels he could have had a better chance at ninth, but is nonetheless thrilled with his season. Having produced some stellar results on a two-year-old bike this season, the Avintia rider’s switch to a GP16 next season is certainly a tantalising prospect.

“We always said that our target was to finish the championship between fifth and tenth, but being realistic, this was almost impossible. If we look how many factory bikes are on the grid, we should be 14th or 15th with our bike,” he said.

“We finished with 102 points, and this after missing two good opportunities when I was replacing Iannone in the factory Ducati team. Without that we could be ninth overall. But anyway we did a great job this year, and some riders like Suzuki’s Aleix Espargaro or Bradley Smith are behind us. We had a third division bike, but the team was playing in the premier league. I always did my best, I got two fifth places, one fourth place, sixth… really good results.

“The word team was very important this year, I learned a lot and I also matured as a rider. On Tuesday we will start a new year, an even better year. I want to thank everybody that believed in me and all those who made this possible.”