Month: January 2018

30/01/18 Sepang MotoGP Test – Sepang International Circuit

The Reale Avintia Racing Team leaves Malaysia with good feelings after three days of testing at the Sepang International Circuit, with Tito Rabat and Xavi Simeon constantly progressing.

The Spanish rider completed several laps under two minutes and was inside the ‘top 6’ for a while to remain in ninth place with two hours to go. On the last afternoon, the plan was to complete a full race simulation, but his run was interrupted when he crashed on the ninth of 20 laps. Despite his incident, Rabat left the circuit very satisfied after finishing the test with the twelfth fastest lap, only 0.717s behind Jorge Lorenzo, who was flying aboard his factory Ducati in Sepang today. Rabat is now looking forward to getting back on his bike in two weeks in Thailand, where the second official three-day test of the MotoGP caregory will be held at the new Buriram International Circuit.
Rabat’s teammate in Reale Avintia Racing, Xavier Simeon, continued with his work plan, which once again was focused on progressing on the bike and adapting his riding style to the demands of the MotoGP class. The Belgian did 30 laps today and lapped in 2’00, which was one of the goals that the team had set before arriving in Malaysia. In addition, his times were similar to the other riders who moved up from Moto2, including the current champion and runner-up. Therefore also for Simeon the Sepang test has been very positive.

“It has been a very positive test because I’ve managed to go fast with a very good pace while riding alone. Every time I’m more comfortable with the bike and the team has been doing a great job during the three days. In the afternoon we did a race simulation, but I crashed and so we couldn’t finish it. The positive thing is that we know why it happened, it was the same as the first day and in the same turn, running the medium front tyre. This tyre does not warn you before the limit as we already know, but now we have things clear for the next test. I’m very happy with the result of these tests, with the team, with the bike and with my physical condition. Now it’s time to train hard at home to get ready for Thailand”.

“To be honest I’m very happy because we’ve been working step by step and every day I’ve improved the lap times and, what is more important, I’ve improved my feeling with the bike. For the first time I was able to make changes on the set-up, understand the bike better and how it needs to be ridden. That also allowed me to concentrate on my riding and on such a difficult track like this, we managed to lap in 2’00 which is not bad for my first time at Sepang with a MotoGP bike. I am working very well with the team and they have given me very good indications. Also Rubén (Xaus) has helped me a lot and with his experience I have been able to advance faster and in the end we were with the other ‘rookies’. Now we need to continue working at home to start over in Thailand form where we have left off here”.

29/01/18 Sepang MotoGP Test – Sepang International Circuit

When MotoGP riders arrived this morning to Sepang, they’ve found a damp track after overnight rain, but unlike yesterday the Malaysian sun was shining and the track surface dried up quickly. Before lunch time, Reale Avintia Racing riders were ready to jump on their bikes and continue working.
Tito Rabat improved again his rhthym and compared to the first day his race pace was a second faster. The former Moto2 World Champion has been working very well with his crew and improved in more than half a second his best lap time from the first day, even so, he wanted to improve a bit more at the end. In the 30 minutes went out with a new rear Michelin slick tyre for a time attack, pero a rain shower ruined his plan of improving his lap times.

Xavier Simeon has also taken a big step forward in his adaptation process to the MotoGP class. The Belgian rider, following the advice of the team and his ‘coach’ Ruben Xaus, is steadely improving his riding style bettering his time from yesterday by almost 1.5s. His goal for the winter test is not just make a fast lap, but to learn as much as possible before the MotoGP World Championship starts in Qatar next March.

“Today was a day to try many different things in the set up of the bike to see what we like and what we don’t like. I’m happy because we have clear which way to follow and although we didn’t complete many laps, all of them have been effective and have allowed us to test what we wanted to test. For tomorrow, if tonight doesn’t rain, the intention is to start early and try to improve the lap time but, to be honest, I’m happy with the pace we have and specially because I’m doing fast times riding on my own. We have to concentrate to make the most of the last day and if everything goes well I would like to do a race simulation”.

“I’m very happy because today we did a big step compared to yesterday, and even during the afternoon with used tyres I was able to improve. Every time I go out on track I feel better with the bike, every time I understand the tyres better, I’m changing my position and little by little and I’m riding more in the style requiered by a MotoGP machine; lifting the bike as soon as possible and trying to brake as late as possible. At the end of the day we put a set of fresh soft tyres to try to improve the lap times and, honestly, I expected to improve a bit more. Especially seeing how the other riders with the new tyre were doing a big improvement. I expected to be able to do the same, but it is clear that I still have many things to learn”.

The 2018 season started for Reale Avintia Racing today at the Sepang International Circuit. Tito Rabat and Xavi Simeon did their first run of the year on wet Michelin tyres due to the morning rain that left the track completely damp. With high humidity and the slow drying asphalt of Sepang, it took a while until the track was completely dry, so the riders had to wait until the afternoon to have normal conditions again.

Tito Rabat worked with the harder compound of Michelin’s allocation for this test throughout the day. The goal was to get the feeling back after two months without riding his Ducati. When he grabbed a new set of soft tyres for the last hour of the day, the Reale Avintia rider immediately improved his pace. Then he crashed at turn 5 and his day was finished. It was a shame because he was fast, his feeling was very good and he felt that was capable to improve his lap times, as all the other riders did in the last part of the day. Nevertheless, he expects to make another step forward tomorrow and continue his positive progression with the Ducati Desmosedici GP17.

For Xavier Simeon, the first day at Malaysia was good. After just four days of testing in Valencia and Jerez, the Belgian rider was focused on recovering the feeling with the bike to continue his adaptation to the premier class. In every exit, he did improved his pace and the best news was that his shoulder, which he injured towards the end of last year’s Moto2 season, didn’t cause any problems and he was able to complete 47 laps.

“I’m very happy to start the season and I felt very good on the bike. We worked all day with the medium rear tyre compound and at the end of the day we mounted the soft one and the feeling improved a lot. The problem is that we don’t have enough tyres and we’ll have to manage it fairly well in the next two days. It was a pity that I crashed when we started to go fast because this stopped me from improving further. But a lap time of 2’00 after the long winter break without riding the bike is pretty good and I’m very happy. The crash was silly, since I simply went too fast in that corner. But for tomorrow, I’m calm because I’ve seen that I can go fast and I feel very good with the bike”.

“I felt quite good today, but it’s true that I found it difficult to get used to the bike again on a track that is very different from Valencia and Jerez. Overall, I think we made a good step. We have been working all day with the same tyres and we just put a new set an hour and a half before the end, but although I haven’t been able to improve the pace, my feeling was good. All in all, today went a lot better than I expected. Tomorrow I hope to start from the base we have established today and improve a little more. Ten minutes from the end, when we had stopped, everyone else improved their times, but we have not reached that point yet. The important thing at the moment is to understand everything, to progress and not to make any mistakes. After so many years in Moto2 I have to change a lot of things, but with every additional lap on this bike, I feel more comfortable. I’m also happy because I worked very hard this winter to get back into shape after my shoulder injury and today the shoulder has not caused me any problem at all”.