Month: September 2018

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MotoGP GP of San Marino – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli

Reale Avintia Racing team rider Xavier Simeon will start the Grand Prix of San Marino on Sunday from 22^nd place of the grid. Despite suffering a small crash during the qualifying session, Simeon is quite satisfied with the progress made. On his second day on the Ducati GP17, the Belgian rider enjoyed his ride and concentrated on the race set-up. Tomorrow he hopes to be able to be fighting within the top 15.
Losing FP3 due to the damp conditions of the track was a problem for Christophe Ponsson on Saturday morning. The French rider needs time on the bike to continue learning and improving. But due to the rain overnight, the circuit was not dry enough to go out with Michelin slick tires, but also was not wet enough for rain settings. In FP4, he was able to do many consecutive laps and in qualifying he improved his best time from yesterday by a full second.
In the race on Sunday, he hopes to improve lap after lap and, above all, to enjoy his first Grand Prix in MotoGP.

“It has been a positive day despite the crash at the end of the session. It was a shame because I did not manage to get the best out of the bike. However, I was able to start again with the second bike and the lap time was not bad in the end. Today we tried some different settings on the bike and I was able to improve a bit, but in such a short time it is difficult to get used to everything. But it’s important that I enjoy riding and I’m happy. Tomorrow I hope to be consistent and get the best out of me and the bike to make a good race”.

“Today I felt much better on the bike. Our only handicap was the track was not in the best condition this morning and I could only do six laps. Without a doubt, this wasn’t good for me because those kilometres that I missed out on would have been crucial to improve my times in qualifying. I used FP4 to confirm yesterday’s work and continue with my adaptation to the bike. In qualifying I improved by one second. Every time I go out, I am more comfortable and feel more things on the bike. If I could have had more time this morning, the improvement would have been more noticeable. Tomorrow I hope to finish the race. Also, I’m sure I’ll improve my pace during the race”.

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MotoGP GP of San Marino – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli

The riders of Team Reale Avintia Racing had a positive first day of practice for the San Marino Grand Prix.

Xavi Simeon was impressed with the Ducati GP17 of his injured teammate Tito Rabat and ended the two Friday practice sessions very happy with the feeling for this bike, even though these good sensations don’t reflect in the classification yet. Simeon was 1.6 seconds behind the fastest guy on the track but is convinced that he can do another step tomorrow and that a starting position somewhere in the first five rows of the grid is within reach.

There was also excitement on the other side of the box which saw the MotoGP debut of Christophe Ponsson. Everything was new for Chris today and it made sense for the 22-year-old Frenchman to have a careful approach in the blue ribbon category of motorcycle racing. Rubén Xaus was by his side all day and provided him, alongside with the technical team, with the right advice at every moment, so he was able to progress significantly over the course of the day. Despite a lot of criticism about him learning to ride a MotoGP bike on an actual race weekend, the Frenchman achieved his first goal and finished the day within the 107 per cent time limit and passed the qualifying hurdle. In the same way as Simeon, Ponsson also expects to make another step on Saturday in order to be well prepared for the race on Sunday.

“I am very happy, because I felt really well on this bike. We didn’t touch anything on the base settings of Tito and I was comfortable from the first lap. I tried to ride as much as possible in order to get used to the bike and with every exit, we managed to improve our times. I finished 1.6 seconds behind the leader and it’s a long time ago that I was that close. The team is helping me a lot in order to do well. I believe tomorrow we can fight for a place within the top 15 in qualifying.”

“Today I had to learn many things in a short time, but I think we did a good job. What I find most difficult to get used to are neither the carbon brakes nor the engine power, but the stiffness of the bike. I rode many street bike derivatives in the past, which were softer and I’m struggling with this one because the chassis is so stiff that it transmits everything. I also never had a chance to compete on Michelin tires before, which made things even more complicated in the short time we’ve had. I need more kilometres in order to get used to the bike. The other riders or on the finish line of this season and are on an incredible level. The best thing for us is that I improved every time I went out on the track.”

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Reale Avintia Racing is pleased to announce a two-year agreement reached with Karel Abraham that will see the 28 year-old Czech rider will compete in MotoGP World Championship with Ducati in 2019 and 2020.

Karel Abraham’s debut in the World Championship was in 2005 in 125cc and after two seasons he moved up to 250cc. In 2010, the same year the Moto2 class started as the new intermediate category, Abraham did a strong season and he ended the year with a podium finish in Japan and wining the race in Valencia.

His debut in MotoGP was in 2011 with Ducati and he completed five seasons before moving to World Superbike. Abraham came back to MotoGP in 2017 and he showed his skills at the Grand Prix of Argentina with front row start and top 10 result in the race.

Karel is a very experienced rider and capable of scoring points in every race. Next season he will race with Reale Avintia Racing team riding a Ducati GP18 and he expects to step forward and get closer to the front.

“I’m very happy to continue in Motogp next year and would like to thanks for this opportunity to Reale Avintia Racing Team. We signed in Silverstone because it was very important for me to finalise every detail of the contract in order to get competitive machinery. This worked out also thanks to a big help of Luigi Dall’Igna and Paolo Ciabatti from Ducati factory. The important part is, that it will be Ducati GP18 with the newest specification, which has a good results from this season. Thanks to that I believe, that we will be able to make some really good results and I am already very excited about the next season.”

“I’m very happy to see Karel Abraham joining our team. He is a hard worker, has won in Moto2, and has a lot of experience in MotoGP and with Ducati. I think that with better material and with the work of the whole team, next year Karel will be able to show its true potential. And I’m also happy to announce that we will continue with Ducati for two more seasons.”

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MotoGP GP of San Marino – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli

Following the unfortunate accident of Tito Rabat during the practice of the last Grand Prix of Great Britain that will take him off the tracks for a while, Reale Avintia Racing team was forced to reorganize quickly to have two riders this weekend in Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
Until Tito Rabat is ready to get back on his bike, his teammate Xavier Simeon will compete with the Spaniard’s Ducati GP17. At this stage of the season it was difficult to find an available rider with enough experience to cover Rabat seat, so Xavi was the perfect candidate.
In the other hand, to replace the place of Simeon at the San Marino Grand Prix, the frenchman Christophe Ponsson will debut with the team. The 22-year-old is one of the fastest riders in the FIM CEV Superbike Championship and he hopes to make the most of this opportunity.
It will not be the first time that the Reale Avintia Racing sees a rider making his debut in MotoGP, two seasons ago the Australian Mike Jones rode Héctor Barberá’s Ducati and ended up scoring points at Phillip Island, or Javi del Amor, who scored one point in Barcelona 2013 with the FTR.

“The first thing is to wish Tito the best and fastest recovery, he is a great guy and I hope he comes back very soon. But I can not hide that I’m very happy to get on his bike. Tito has done great things this year and for me it is a great opportunity to get on the GP17, I will try to give the maximum and I hope to get as close as possible to his level. I want to thank the team and Zelos for making it possible. I hope that Tito recovers soon and I have to open full gas to take advantage of this opportunity”.

“I’m super happy and excited. I really want to get on the bike. Racing in MotoGP is the dream of any rider and I still can not believe that on Friday I will be on track with the riders I see from home every weekend. I always try to learn from them on TV and now I can do it on the track! I am happy! I am 22 years old and this opportunity is something incredible. I know it will be difficult and I will have to learn many things in a very short time, the bike, the carbon brakes, the Michelin tires, but I am willing to enjoy and learn. I will try to give my best on the bike and I hope to reward the team and all those who have helped me to fulfill my dream”.

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Reale Avintia Racing rider, Tito Rabat, spoke today to the media at the Dexeus University Hospital from Quirón Salud Group. Beside the Catalan rider were doctors, Ángel Charte, Xavier Mir and Ignacio Ginebreda, who have been following the evolution of Rabat’s injury from the moment of the accident.
The intervention of the MotoGP Medical Team at the gravel in Silverstone was crucial and the surgery carried out at the University Hospital of Coventry under the supervision of Charte, Mir and Ginebreda was a success and was carried out as planned.
Rabat arrived in Barcelona last Friday and after carrying out all kinds of tests, the severity of his injury has been confirmed and he has already started active and passive rehabilitation at the Dexeus University Hospital. At the moment, doctors do not want to give recovery times. “We have to give it time and we can not fix a date. Tito will recover as soon as possible, but I dare not give a return date. These kind of fractures take time to consolidate. It will be necessary to evaluate the moment he will be able to comeback riding his bike, and the risks that it entails,” said Dr. Ignacio Ginebreda. “We have planned several actions to accelerate consolidation to the maximum. You can get on the bike before the fractures are fully consolidated, but you always have to assess the existing risks.”
The most important thing is that the fractures are correctly fixed and ligaments and joints in Rabat’s leg have not been affected. We will keep you informed about Tito Rabat recovery in our social media channels.

“At Silverstone we saw how important it is to have the Medical Team in MotoGP and I want to thank all of them for their great work. I also want to thank to those who operated on me in England because they did a great job. I want to return as soon as possible, but I will do what the doctors say. The priority is to recover as soon as possible, but in the end, those who rule are them based on the evolution of the leg. The worst of the accident was the pain, which practically has not let me sleep. I never thought about losing my leg, although I saw it twisted like an S when I was laying on the gravel. I lost a lot of blood and I got scared. I have learned a lesson and from now on every time I crash again I will look back. At that moment I saw that Rins was warning me to get out of there, and I saw Franco’s bike coming very fast towards me, I stand up and the bike hit my leg, otherwise it would have been much worse”.