Month: September 2018

MotoGP GP of Aragón – MotorLand Aragón

Reale Avintia Racing riders Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres battled with the heat over the 19 laps of the Aragón Grand Prix to finish in 19^th and 20^th position.

To complete the full race distance aboard the Ducati GP17 of his injured team-mate Tito Rabat was a valuable experience for the Belgian rider, who was forced to retire from the previous Grand Prix at Misano due to a crash, but who learned a lot during the race now at Aragón.

On the other side of the garage, Jordi Torres was al smiles after his first experience in the blue ribbon class of motorcycle racing. It wasn’t an easy task to learn so many things in such a short time and with the pressure of a race weekend, but Torre, one of the darlings of the Spanish crowd, improved session by session and finished they race less than a second behind his team-mate. To sum it up, he did a great job.

Should Tito Rabat not get the green light from the medical team of MotoGP to take part at the next round in Thailand, Simeon will have a third opportunity with the Ducati GP17 and Torres will take the vacant seat in the team one more time.

The Grand Prix of Thailand will take place at the Chang International Circuit from 5^th to 7^th of October.

“This weekend was much more difficult than I expected, as I really thought I’d be able to finish higher up in the classification. But we had a lot of traction problems over the whole weekend. In the race, the last laps were especially difficult. Even though the bike turns very well, I couldn’t get the power down in the moment of opening the throttle. The only positive thing is the additional experience with this bike. Now we have to concentrate on the next race in Thailand where I expect to make another step forward.”

“To complete my first Grand Prix in the MotoGP class was a very emotional experience. A dream came true and I enjoyed every moment of it. It helped me to understand tyre wear, how the bike changes over the distance and how you have to adapt your riding style to the decreasing fuel load. But to be honest, not a lot of this sank in and every time I saw myself getting closer to the front, I made more mistakes. I tried to stay cool during the race and to concentrate on my riding position, but I’m still too rigid on the bike. I would have liked to stay with another rider in the race, but nevertheless, I am very happy. Now we’ll have to wait and see if Tito will fly to Thailand or not. I am prepared for whatever is needed.”

MotoGP GP of Aragón – MotorLand Aragón

The riders of Team Reale Avintia Racing, Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres, were not very happy with their qualifying results for the Grand Prix of Aragón on Sunday.

The Belgian rider, who is contesting his second race on the bike of injured Tito Rabat, couldn’t improve his lap time as he had expected, due to dense traffic on the track during his last time attack in Q1. He will now start from the 22^nd position of the grid. Upbeat about his race rhythm, Simeon believes he will be fast enough to ride and battle within another group of riders.

Teammate and rookie Jordi Torres also had a difficult second day of practice. After a crash in FP3 during the morning session, the rider from Rubí lost some of his confidence in the front end and in the front fork set-up of his bike. But the rider from Rubí made the best out of the day and improved his Friday time significantly. There is no hidden agenda for the race, simply to put up a fight.

Warm-Up will start at 9.40 on Sunday and both Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres are determined to put up a fight and get as many issues sorted as possible before the race starts at 14.00 h local time!”

“Honestly, I am disappointed because when we mounted the last rear tyre in qualifying, I ran into a lot of traffic and couldn’t get the result we were expecting. I am angry, because I expected a much bigger improvement with the new rear tyre and I felt really comfortable on the bike, so it’s a real shame. Now it will be even more important to get a good start, so I can get the maximum out of the race. It will be long, tough and very hot, but I am confident to be able to maintain my rhythm which should allow me to gain positions and fight for a good result.”

“It was a difficult day. In a nutshell, we were in delay for the whole day and it was my fault. This morning in FP3, I made a mistake downshifting and I came off the bike. It was a stupid crash, but big enough to throw out our plans for the whole day. We had best intentions to apply a bit more pressure, but this delay made us more careful instead. In FP4, we rode many laps in order to improve my feelings with the bike and to change my seating position. In Q1, I pushed harder and tried to lean over more than all the others, and I can say that I never ever in my life went with more lean angle. Riding like that, the bike behaved differently and we made a lot of progress. It’s a pity that we didn’t make this move in the morning. But nevertheless, I am highly motivated and we’ll now see what we can achieve in the race.

MotoGP GP of Aragón – MotorLand Aragón

The riders of team Reale Avintia Racing had a good first day at the Grand Prix of Aragón, with Xavier Simeon improving aboard the Ducati GP17 of injured team-mate Tito Rabat and with newcomer Jordi Torres finishing only a little more than a second behind the second-last rider.

Since the weekend has only just begun, both Simeon and Torres are convinced they can improve further. The Belgian rider will focus on the set-up of hisbike in order to be more consistent, whereas the Spanish rider from Rubí will work on adapting his aggressive riding style to suit and get the maximum out of his Ducati.

FP3 will take place at 9:55 h on Saturday morning, whereas the qualifying runs for the starting grid will start at 14:10 h.

“It was a very positive day despite a technical problem with one of the bikes. This aside, I am very happy with the first day because it didn’t go bad at all. My lap time was decent even though I still have to improve my rhythm and consistency a lot. This bike wears the rear tyre out quite quickly and we have to work on this aspect. I hope to make another step forward tomorrow. I will try to give it all in Q1 in order to be as close to the front as possible on the starting grid.”

“I honestly thought it would be much more difficult to ride in this category and on this bike than it really was. I also want to say that the team made it very easy for me to get used to the bike step by step. They gradually gave me more engine power, taking the traction control back bit by bit, which made the bike always a bit more difficult to tame, but also more enjoyable for me. It was an exciting day with high expectations from many sides, but I was not satisfied. I am the first one to put pressure on myself. There is no doubt that we should have done lap times around 1’50.6 or 1’50.7 and the fact that we didn’t achieve this is my fault. I am still unable to string a good lap without any small mistakes together, I still need to be more precise and consistent. I also didn’t want to take any risks because it wasn’t the day to do that. To get to the point where we are now was relatively easy, but to improve further will be tough. It’s not so much a question of bravery or riding style than to figure out how to do cover the straights in the shortest possible. Every time I want to accelerate earlier or brake later, I make mistakes. But this night, I will re-think everything and tomorrow, I hope to get a bit closer.”

MotoGP GP of Aragon – MotorLand Aragon

Jordi Torres will join the Reale Avintia Racing team this weekend at the Aragon Grand Prix. The Catalan rider will jump on Xavier Simeon’s GP16, while the Belgian rider will enjoy his second race on injured Tito Rabat’s Ducati.
Torres is not a newcomer in the MotoGP paddock, as he raced in the Moto2 class from 2010 to 2014 with some success. He has several podiums in the intermediate class and he won the race in Sachsenring 2013. Two years later he decided to try in the World Superbike Championship and in his first season he was always in the top five and finished in the podium in several races. He got his first victory in the last race of the season in Qatar. He currently competes with MV Agusta in his fourth WSBK season.
On Friday in Aragon, it will be the first time that Torres gets on a MotoGP bike, and this is challenge he is ready to face this weekend and he is looking forward to start.
Jordi Torrres will race for Reale Avintia team in MotorLand and, in the races that the doctors from Hospital Unversitari Dexeus, consider for Rabat to recover 100% from the unfortunate injury in his right leg.

“First of all I want thank the team for this opportunity. Right now I am excited but also terrified, but it is always a challenge to be able to try a MotoGP bike for the first time. It will be a unique experience that one day I will be able to tell my grandchildren. Now seriously, I really want to try the bike and see how I evolve. I know that the championship has a very high level and in a race weekend it is very difficult to assimilate all the things you need to be fast, but I will try to learn as much as possible and take advantage of my experience. I think it’s something positive, I know the team very well and I will try to put everything, and we will see what comes out during the weekend. It’s more difficult than the people think, but I’m going with a positive attitude and looking forward to get the best out of this opportunity. I also want to thank my manager for his work and MV Agusta for giving me permission to be in Aragon. At the moment it is one race, but it could be two. Above all I want to wish Tito a speedy recovery because he does not deserve that bad accident, but I know he will come back quickly, because he is a fighter”.

MotoGP GP of San Marino – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli

The Grand Prix of San Marino was not easy for Team Reale Avintia Racing as Xavier Simeon’s hopes of fighting for points and scoring a strong result evaporated at the beginning of the fourth lap when he lost the front of his Ducati GP17 and crashed. As the Belgian rider says, it was a pity, because the previous work of the weekend had been very positive and his pace and race set-up were more than acceptable.
New team-mate and MotoGP rookie Christoph Ponsson finished his first Grand Prix, in a weekend that was also difficult for him due to the criticism of numerous publications and riders pilots. The most important thing for him today was to gain experience and finish the race, which he achieved.
The next round of the championship will take place within two weeks at the MotorLand Aragón Circuit and will be the third home race for Team Reale Avintia Racing.

“It was a shame to crash in the race and without a doubt, this is not what I expected. The first thing that went wrong was the start and that’s what ultimately caused this crash, because I tried to recover and go with the group that was in front of me. But apart from this, I had fun and I learned a lot this weekend riding the GP17, although, of course, you can’t jump on a different bike and do miracles. I think I’ve done good lap times during practice, compared to last year. And I’ve also reconfirmed that the level of this category is very high even with a better bike. I hope to be able to take advantage of all I’ve learned this weekend when we get to Aragon, where I want to be stronger from Friday and make a good weekend”.

“It’s been a long race. I expected it that way and I faced the race as a 27-lap practice session. It helped me to understand many things about the front tire and I have also experienced how the behaviour of the bike as the fuel load gets less towards the middle of the race. I also learned the difference between a new and a worn tire, because it changes the way you have to ride during the race. My last lap was only half a second slower than my best one in qualifying and this was also positive. I think we haven’t made any mistakes. I learned a lot and I did not crash because I did not want to lose track time. It was difficult to take everything in in such a short time, but the experience was worth it. I hope I can do better in Aragon”.