Month: June 2018

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Reale Avintia Racing – GP of Catalunya– Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

The Grand Prix of Catalunya started in a positive way for Reale Avintia Racing riders Tito Rabat and Xavier Simeon. Rabat finished the opening day in 11^th place with a best lap time of 1’39.851 and he has a strong race pace for Sunday. He now hopes to go straight to the Q2 qualifying session for the Top Ten riders of the MotoGP class tomorrow and also to score a top result at his home Grand Prix on Sunday. The Spaniard, who suffered a big crash during the test held at this track a few weeks ago, is happy with the new tarmac and the revised layout, even though he thinks there is room for improvement in certain areas.

Xavier Simeon made a step forward at the Catalonian venue. With a best lap time of 1’40.697, he finished 21^st in the combined standings. The MotoGP rookie is on the right track and he is getting closer to achieve his goal that he set at the beginning of the season: to battle within the top 15 places.

The expectations are high for tomorrow’s qualifying sessions and the riders, together with the team, are giving their 100% to honour Andreas Pérez in the race on Sunday.

“The first day at my home Grand Prix was very positive, as we found a good pace and did some fast laps. We finished 11^th today, but I’m confident to be faster tomorrow. We have to keep working to find another few tenths of a second tomorrow. The track surface is very good, it’s really fast now, but the problem is that there is only one race line and if you miss it and get off line, it’s dirty and tricky.”

“I’m happy because this morning we finished in 16^th place and we were 20^th in the afternoon. Even better, we improved our pace on every exit. We are stronger, but we need to keep going in this direction to get closer to the top 15. We improved a lot, also compared with the test we did here, and this is the most positive thing about today. To be faster is good for my morale, because even thoough I was closer to the other riders in the last few races, I always was behind them. Now it’s time to rest and we will push again tomorrow.”

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MotoGP GP of Catalunya – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

The Reale Avintia Racing team has arrived at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, making preparations for the second home Grand Prix of the season. It will be a very emotional weekend for all team members, just a few days after the tragic loss of Andreas Perez who had a fatal accident during the Moto3 Junior World Championship on Sunday.

Tito Rabat heads to Barcelona highly motivated and with his left arm fully recovered. He is looking forward to a strong result in front of the Spanish fans. The results in the last races have been far from the real level of the Catalan rider and this weekend, he is determined to leave his bad luck behind.

It will be also an important weekend for Xavier Simeon. The Reale Avintia Racing Belgian rider has been training hard and he did a promising one-day-test last month in Barcelona, so he is confident to get on the pace from Friday and to be fighting for a better result on Sunday’s 24-lap-race.

“I’m looking forward to start my home Grand Prix. I arrive with my arm at a 100% and I want to do a good race in Montmelo and give my best in front of my home crowd. It will be a sad weekend for all of us as we lost one of the youngest members of our team. Rest in peace Andreas. All my thoughts are with your family and friends.”

“I arrive at Barcelona very motivated. I trained hard during the last week to be ready and to start the weekend in a positive way. We did a test here a few weeks ago and it was quite positive, so I expect to start with a good base set-up and hopefully climb up to more decent positions. I really want to be with the group and I’ll give my best to achieve this. I want to send all my support to the family of Andreas. His loss has been really hard for the team.”

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MotoGP GP of Italy – Mugello

Reale Avintia Racing rider Tito Rabat rode his 200^th Grand Prix in the motorcycle world championship today at Mugello, and to celebrate this milestone, he conquered two points despite his injury. The left arm of the Spanish rider was still in pain after the heavy crash suffered at the Barcelona test last week, but Rabat grit his teeth and completed the gruelling 23-lap-race to cross the finish line in 13^th position. Under normal circumstances, this position wouldn’t have been a dream result for Rabat, but to finish such a difficult race, which saw seven crashes and five riders not being classified, was an achievement in itself. Even though the arm injury continued to bother him throughout the race, Rabat’s main problem was the rise in asphalt temperatures, which caused a sudden drop in front tyre performance. Now, Rabat is only concentrating on his recovery in order to be fully fit for his home race at Montmeló in two weeks, where we wants to make his comeback within the Top Ten of the MotoGP category.

Xavier Simeon also hung in and finished a long and tough race, but wasn’t happy with his final position. The Belgian rider had a very good start, but ran into problems with his rear tyre early on in the race. The “rookie” of Reale Avintia Racing managed to bring his bike home in 17^th position, which is his best result since his debut in the MotoGP class at the season-opening race in Qatar. Obviously, Simeon wants to finish higher up and to put up a fight with his rivals. In Barcelona, where he completed quite a promising test, he hopes to be able to show his true potential.

“First and foremost, I am happy that I scored two points here, when it would have been easy to stay at home after my crash at Barcelona. However, after doing so well in qualifying yesterday, I sincerely hoped to finish higher up. But in the race, the front tyre felt as if I was skating on ice. The track conditions had changed dramatically and with the rise in temperatures, we all suffered a lot. I struggled to adapt to these conditions. I rode with the handbrake on, so to speak, and we finished the race 22 seconds behind the winner. Now I am thinking of the next race at Montmeló, my home Grand Prix, where I hope to be able to fight for positions within the front group of riders again.”

“I started very well and I made up four positions, but after four or five laps, the problems with my rear tyre began. The rear end would step out every time I cut the gas and I was close to crashing on four or five occasions. Apart from that, I concentrated on trying to keep the pace, but the race was tough and felt especially long, because I was riding by myself for most of the time. The warm-up session this morning was positive and we made some changes that helped me to ride more comfortably in the race. But I am not satisfied. I want to fight higher up in the field, so we have to continue to work.”

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MotoGP GP of Italy – Mugello

After a difficult first day of practice at the Italian Grand Prix, where the muscle injury in his left arm made it impossible to ride very fast, Reale Avintia Racing rider Tito Rabat surprised his team and the fans at Mugello with a great performance on day two. The Spaniard was on fire, rode consistently fast and was battling for an entry to the Q2 qualifying of the twelve fastest riders of the MotoGP class until the last minute. At the end of the Q1 session, he was third, only fractions of a second behind Jack Miller and his compatriot Maverick Viñales, and will start the race on Sunday from 13th position on the grid.

For team-mate Xavier Simeon, the second day of practice was also positive. The Belgian rider of Reale Avintia keeps struggling with the adaptation of his riding style to the premier class and the fast Mugello circuit is certainly a special challenge for a MotoGP rookie. But on Saturday, Simeon improved his best lap time by roughly a second and he is now confident to make another step in the warm-up session before the race.

Qualifying took place in sunny and hot conditions, with track temperatures up to 50 degree. The weather forecast for the race on Sunday, the sixth round of this year’s MotoGP world championship, is much the same, with lots of sunshine and summer heat.

“If anybody would have told me yesterday that I would be battling to get into Q2 today, I wouldn’t have believed it. But I had a really good day, we did well both in the free practice sessions and in qualifying. I am happy, because it would have been easy to stay at home and watch the race on television, but now I am here and will start the race from 13^th place on the grid. With the adrenalin of racing, the arm doesn’t hurt, which is also very positive. Now we have to check and see where we can improve a bit more in the warm-up session. Then I will concentrate on the race and try to achieve the best result possible.”

“I still don’t feel comfortable with the bike, but nevertheless, we managed to make a step forward, which was very positive. Our performance was much better than yesterday. Even though we are still far from where we want to be and we still need to improve, I finished the day satisfied. We got closer to the top and this is what counts. Having said that, the level in this class is very high, the times are very close together and we need to boost our performance even more if we want to have a chance to battle for positions towards the front. It won’t be easy, but we will continue to work hard in order to get the maximum out of the equipment we have.”

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MotoGP GP of Italy – Mugello

Reale Avintia Racing rider Tito Rabat returned to action on the first day of practice for the Grand Prix of Italy, after his spectacular crash during the tests at Barcelona last week. Rabat worked hard over the last days in order to arrive in Italy in the best possible shape. Even though it became obvious in the first laps that he is not at a 100 per cent physically, he found to his rhythm and improved his feelings with the Ducati Desmosedici step by step. From the first to the second free practice session, the Spaniard managed to improve his lap time by roughly a second. He now hopes to make another step forward on Saturday.

Teammate Xavi Simeon had a difficult day on the fast and sweeping Mugello circuit. The MotoGP rookie is not comfortable on his bike yet, which slows his progress. Despite his best efforts to change his riding style for the premier class, the habits from the Moto2 category are still present. The Belgian rider knows where he needs to improve and his technical crew, together with riding coach Rubén Xaus, are working hand in hand so Xavi can move up to where he deserves to be.

“This morning, I hoped my arm would be better, but I realised immediately that i lacked strength. But as I continued to ride, my body adapted to riding the bike step by step and we made progress. After my crash at the Barcelona test, it was very important for me to get back on the bike as soon as possible and every time I go out on the track, I feel a little better. In the afternoon, we made a good step in the right direction and things went quite well. It was a shame that I ran into traffic towards the end and we slowed each other down, because I could have finished a bit higher up.”

“I am struggling to make the steps I want to make and we continue to be far away from the top. I keep a lot of lean angle in the corners whereas you should pick these bikes up very early on the corner exit in order to make the best possible use of all the horsepower they have. So far, I can’t use this power to my advantage, but I need to figure out how, if I want to make real progress. In my sixth Grand Prix I should be closer. That’s why I am not very happy with the way the first day at Mugello went.”