Month: March 2018

MotoGP GP of Qatar – Losail International Circuit

Reale Avintia Racing team rider Tito Rabat, started the season with a solid eleventh position in the first race of the 2018 MotoGP World Championship tonight in Qatar. The start wasn’t so good, with the former Moto2 World Champion losing several places and crossing the finish line 21^st after the first lap. But Rabat kept focused. With a consistent race pace, he was able to pass his rivals to finish only half a second away from the Top 10.
His teammate Xavier Simeon was 21^st in his debut in the premier class. He fulfilled his first goal of finishing the race, which is a valuable experience for the next rounds. He improved his pace lap by lap and set his personal fastest lap towards the end.
The teams will now fly to Argentina for the second round of the season, which will take place in just three weeks.

“I’m very happy with our start of the season. We had a complete weekend and we have had a bit of everything, good times, others not so good, but we kept calm and I worked very closely with my team. At the start, I had some problems that we have to check, because I lost many places. But afterwards I started to set my pace and was overtaking people quite easily. When I finished the race, I was only 15 seconds behind the winner, which was a nice surprise and a new record for me in MotoGP. I’m very, very happy with the Ducati, this bike suits my riding style and the team has been perfect as well”.

“When you start from the last place of the grid, it is difficult to set a goal for the race. During the winter test I never did a complete race simulation and this has been my first race in every sense. Overall I’m satisfied, I’ve been improving every lap and I clocked my fastest time on the 19^th lap, which is very positive for me. The level in MotoGP is very high this year, last year I would have scored points with the lap times I did today. At least, I’ve gained experience and I finished my first race, with pretty decent lap times. We will continue working to do better in Argentina”.

Folloging the issues in qualifying and a decent warm-up, all was set for the first race of the season. Livio Loi and the Reale Avintia Academy team were ready to fight for the points in Qatar, but the start was not good and then Livio had some techincal problems that finaly forced him to retire in the las half of the race.

This is not the way the rider and the team had in mind, but this is racing. Now is time to look forward to Argentina, a really good track for Loi were he was on the podium two years ago. The team will now check all the data to find whay the shifter was not working in the right way, and try to score the first championship points in the next round of the Moto3 World Championship.

“We knew before the race that it was going to be difficult, because this morning we tried several things on the bike and, although we imprioved a little bit we were not perfect. The satr was not so bad, but the gap with the front was too big from the beginning. It was impossible to get with the leading group but I wanted to finish the race. Then, at the end of the race I had a problem with the shifter and I decided to retire. We have to see what happened and now I’m looking forward to Argentina, a track that I really love.”

MotoGP GP of Qatar – Losail International Circuit

Wind and sand played a starring role on the second day of practice for the Grand Prix of Qatar. Due to the conditions during FP3, it was very difficult for the Reale Avintia Racing riders to improve. But neither Tito Rabat nor Xavier Simeon threw the towel. Instead, they continued to work hard with their crews to be ready for the first race of the season.
The former Moto2 World Champion will rely on his race pace that should be strong enough to fight for the top ten in the first Grand Prix of the year. He has his mind set about the bike set-up and tyre choice and looks forward to his race debut with the Reale Avintia Racing and his Ducati GP17.
For ‘rookie’ Simeon the day went better than yesterday. He finished at the back of the grid again, but was very close to the riders in front of him. He also has the pace to be put up a fight and recover some places in the 22 lap-race tomorrow, his first ever race in the premier class.

“Today has been a difficult day for us, but were able to get really good conclusions for tomorrow’s race. After crashing during FP3, I lost my concentration a bit, but afterwards we managed to work well. In qualifying, we should have been some tenths of a second faster to achieve the position we hoped for. But we have found a good set-up for the bike and now it’s time to be focused for the race. The key to the race will be a good start, which would give me the chance to fight and maybe to start the season with a top ten result”.

“Qualifying was much better than free practice yesterday. With the changes we made on the bike, my feeling has definitely improved. But I’m frustrated, because I expected to go faster than in the test and in the end I didn’t. In real race weekend conditions, with very limited time and only a few laps, you have to find your pace very quickly and you can’t waste any time. I have to work hard to get ready for a good lap time and to get the best out of what we have. Anyway, with used tyres, I found a good rhythm in FP4. I hope that this will enable me to ride a good race tomorrow”.

MotoGP GP of Qatar – Losail International Circuit

The 2018 MotoGP World Championship started today under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit. Spanish Reale Avintia Racing rider Tito Rabat, found a very strong rhythm immediately and finished the first session of 45 in the top 10. But in FP2, he couldn’t maintain his position, even though he improved his best lap time by more than seven tenths of a second. Tomorrow he hopes to take another step in FP3 and go straight to Q2.
His teammate Xavier Simeon took too much time to find the pace during the free practice sessions. But he is not worried, because he is conscious about the fact that this is only his first weekend in MotoGP. He still has a lot to learn and today was a valuable lesson.

“I felt very good today and I was immediately faster. We made several changes to the set-up of the bike that I liked a lot and I think that considering it was just the first day, we can’t ask for more. We missed Q2 by just a few tenths, but tomorrow we’ll have another chance and we’ll push hard to use it. To be honest, I think that we are doing a good job and I’m confident about tomorrow. The team is helping me a lot and I have a great feeling with the bike”.

“Today I didn’t have the same feelings that I had during the test, but this doesn’t worry me too much sine we know what we have to do next. It was the first day in real Grand Prix conditions and we could see that with just two 45-minute sessions, I have to be on the pace much faster and that’s what cost me the most today. We need to improve braking and the point where lean the bike into the corner, but above all I have to concentrate on going out and go fast from the start. That’s what we will try tomorrow”.

Team presentation – Reale Seguros (Madrid)

Reale Avintia Racing team presented its ambitious project today at the headquarters of Reale Seguros in Madrid. Reale Avintia project, has its edge in MotoGP with Tito Rabat, Xavi Simeon and Ducati, but this great project with the European Talent Cup, going through the Moto3 and Moto2 World Junior Cup FIM CEV and culminates in the premier class, MotoGP. Reale Avintia Racing will be present in all classes, from the base to the top, of road racing motorcycling.
The famous Spanish presenter Ainhoa Arbizu conducted the event, surrounded by the riders of all classes. Along with Tito Rabat and Xavi Simeon, the Belgian Livio Loi, who will compete in the Moto3 World Championship with KTM, the FIM CEV boys with Vicente Pérez, Andreas Pérez and the Italian Andrea Cavaliere, in addition to the of the European Talent Cup with Carlos Tatay, Adrían Huertas and Iker García Abella. Xavi Cardelus, who was not ale to attend as he was testing will defend the colours of the team in the FIM CEV Moto2 and will do in several Moto2 wild card entries during the season. Also Barry Baltus, who will be racing the in the Moto3 FIM CEV, wasn’t able to come because he had to go to school… Raúl Romero, the team owner, and Reale Seguros and the Avintia Grupo CEO’s, Ignacio Mariscal and Antonio Martín, were also on stage unveiling the new bike liveries for 2018.

“The presentation has gone well and the new livery of the bike is amazing. We are ready to start the World Championship in Qatar next week and I can’t wait to start the first free practice sessions. In this team I’m at home and from the first moment I really had good feelings riding my Ducati GP17. Now we just have to wait for the red light to go out in Qatar”.

“The preseason has gone very well and I have been able to learn many things about MotoGP thanks to the team. The new bike is beautiful and the team launch has been great. In a few days we will be in Qatar under the floodlights and then the serious part will begin. The important thing is that we are ready to start and give a lot of gas”.

“I’m very happy with how the winter testing has gone. The weather has not accompanied us as much as we would liked but, I think we arrived ready to Qatar. The team is very professional and I have adapted quite quickly to the KTM. In a few days we will really see where we are and how far we can go”.

MotoGP Test Qatar – Losail International Circuit

The last test of the preseason finished today at the Losail International Circuit and Reale Avintia Racing team riders, Tito Rabat and Xavier Simeon, are ready to start the new championship in two weeks.
Apart from that, Rabat and Simeon declared themselves satisfied with the work done during these days and both are already looking forward to return to Losail to start the first race weekend of the year. Homework is done and in two weeks the good starts.
The Spaniard improved again his race pace and, although he also improved his fastest lap, his rivals have also went faster on the last day and he finished the test 19th overall and 1.4 seconds of the frontrunners. He must continue working on the fast lap, but Rabat is confident that with its pace, the race in 15 days will be very different.
His teammate Xavi Simeon also took a big step with the pace and his fast lap today, it was a shame that, when he had more confidence and was pushing with soft Michelin tyres he crashed out in turn 15. Even so the MotoGP ‘rookie’ is happy and willing to debut on this same circuit in two weeks.
Today, the riders finished with an unprecedented test in Qatar and, the 24 of the MotoGP rode in wet conditions in the last 30 minutes of the session and under the flloodlights of the Losail International Circuit. The feelings of the riders have been positive.

“It was a very good test, especially the race pace. I think we are very good in that sense, but honestly, in the fast lap we still have a few tenths to find out to get closer to the top ten. There are just three or four tenths but working more during the race weekend I’m sure that we will make it happen. We worked very well; we completed a good test and now we have to concentrate for the race. I really want to start the season. We haven’t race for a long time now and we want this to start the season and to do it good”.

“Today I’m very happy with the feeling, we improved my confidence with the bike and now I can feel better the bike. I’m very satisfied with my rhythm; at the end when we went out with a new tyre, I was not able to improve my lap because I crashed. Anyway compared with the rest of the riders, I still need to improve a lot in this sense, but very happy with the race pace. Now I ride in 56 lows, even with used tyres, and this is a very good sign. Today I really have fun on the bike. Now I start to understand more everything, to ride more naturally. In two weeks time the serious stuff starts. I don’t want to put more pressure than usual. I’ll try to follow the line of progression. If I can follow the same dynamic as in this test we can make a good weekend in the first GP”.

MotoGP Test Qatar – Losail International Circuit

The second day of testing at the Losail International Circuit has been quite good for Reale Avintia Racing riders, Tito Rabat and Xavier Simeon. The action has been delayed after some drops of rain started falling across the circuit. But although the track was not wet, this prevented the riders to get on track. But the sun shined again and Rabat and Simeon were been able to continue with their work program in Qatar.
The Spaniard improved his fast lap of the first day in almost half a second. He also managed to be faster in race settings showing a strong pace. But Tito is never satisfied and in the final hour he went out again, but this time without winglets and he crashed out like yesterday in turn 6.
Xavi Simeon did a big step today. The Belgian ‘rookie’ was a second faster than yesterday, but the most important thing is that he was able to improve a lot his riding style, and now he can get more corner speed and take better advantage of the power of his Ducati Desmosedici engine. Simeon also did a small race simulation and the rhythm has been more than acceptable. He also improved with soft tyres, but it is still the area where he loses more compared to his rivals.

“I’m happy because today once again we improved our race pace and every time I have better feeling with the bike. In the end perhaps we went in the wrong direction, because we decided to try the bike without winglets and I crashed again. But overall the day was good and in with race settings we are quite fast and the tyre life is quite good. For tomorrow the goal is to improve the fastest lap a bit, if we manage to do that I’ll be happy. We have some ideas of where we can improve and we’ll see how it goes. Tomorrow will be an important day because it will be the last test day before the season finally starts here in Qatar”.

“Today was much more positive and I’ve been able to improve my lap times quite a lot. I found myself much better and more confident with the front tyre. To be honest the tyres never gave me bad feelings, but I have to understand well where I can push more. I improved a lot in braking and also the entry into the corner, which allowed me to be more consistent and have better pace, because with that I gained a corner and I can lift the bike before to get stronger. I’ve also done a race simulation and the pace has not been bad. It is clear that we have much to improve, but I am happy to be the first. Tomorrow we must continue on the same line”.