The legal system in Spain sure moves quickly, doesn’t it? Not long after news broke that Avintia Blusens MotoGP racer Hector Barbera was arrested after a domestic violence complaint involving his girlfriend, the couple have already appeared in court and both parties were found at fault and handed suspended sentences.

Spain has a special process for domestic abuse cases with hundreds of courtrooms reserved for dealing with domestic violence. These specialized tribunals, established in 2004, are designed to bring immediate action in cases involving couples.

The courts acted swiftly, finding both Barbera and his partner, identified only as “DP” were equally responsible for what transpired. Barbera was handed a sentence of six months in prison, commuted to 14 months of community service. DP was sentenced to five months in prison, but her sentence was commuted  as she has a clean record. It should be noted that Barbera’s previous arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol in January 2012 factored into the difference in their sentences. Continue Reading »

MotoGP racer Hector Barbera has been arrested by Spanish police following allegations of domestic abuse. UPDATE: Spanish courts found both Barbera and his girlfriend equally responsible for what transpired. Both parties received suspended sentences and were placed under a restraining order.

According to the Irish Independent, the Avintia Blusens racer was taken into custody in Jerez on May 9 after a woman identified as his girlfriend required hospital treatment following an alleged incident in their hotel room.

A statement released on Barbera’s Facebook page says the allegations are untrue and that Barbera is cooperating with authorities. Avintia Blusens has not released any comments on the allegations at this time. Continue Reading »

A contrite Maverick Vinales has returned to the Blusens Avintia Moto3 team days after his brash, and admittedly hasty departure at this past weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

The FTR Honda rider quit the Blusens team on Oct. 10, returning home from Sepang without once hitting the track. At the time, Vinales accused the team of failing to provide technical improvements to remain competitive, even though he was second overall in the Moto3 championship going into Malaysia with more wins than anyone else in the series.

But with two more years to go on his contract and no doubt his lawyers explaining the consequences of breaching a contract, Vinales will race at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island for the Blusens Avintia team. Vinales issued a statement on MotoGP’s official website apologizing to his team, his sponsors, his technicians and racing fans.

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Maverick Vinales seems to be living up to his name, announcing he is leaving the Blusens Avintia team despite sitting second in the Moto3 World Championship with three rounds to go. Vinales traveled with the team to Sepang for the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix but did not take part in Free Practice and later announced the split.

You may remember Vinales from last season when he raced in the former 125cc Grand Prix World Championship for the Paris Hilton-sponsored Blusens-BQR team. While the notorious socialite team owner created headlines, Vinales proved himself to be a rising star, winning four races and finishing third overall in the championship.

This year, he has been even better, winning five races on Blusen’s FTR Honda racebike (#25 above) and trailing KTM‘s Sandro Cortese (#11) by 56 points. Cortese’s lead is daunting but not insurmountable with three races and a potential 75 points up for grabs, so Vinales’ sudden departure points to some serious issues with the team. Continue Reading »

Reality show star, socialite and racing team owner Paris Hilton made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last week to promote some of her projects including her 125cc Grand Prix Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team.

Hilton arrived on the Tonight Show set riding pillion on a GSX-R painted white, pink and blue.

The celebutante’s appearance comes on the (pink) heels of racer Maverick Viñales winning his first 125cc GP race at Le Mans. Viñales sits sixth in the championship standings. Beside the win in Le Mans, Viñales missed out on the final podium position at the Estoril round by just 0.002 seconds. With the next round taking place at the Catalunya Circuit, a track Viñales knows from his time in the Spanish CEV series, there’s a good chance he’ll put up another strong result.

“Maverick won. He’s 16 and incredibly talented,” Hilton told Leno. “Racing is so exciting. It’s such an amazing sport.”

When news of Hilton’s new racing team first broke earlier this year, the reaction from racing fans was pretty mixed, with some welcoming any mainstream attention to the sport while other decrying Hilton for her reputation and lack of any real motorcycle knowledge. Watching her trying to dismount the Gixxer showed the latter argument has some merit, but as we wrote back in February, Paris’ race team might actually be good.

Watch video of Hilton’s Tonight Show appearance after the jump (at least, until NBC pulls the plug).

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