MotoGP GP of Malasia – Sepang
In blistering heat and extreme humidity, conditions that challenged the riders to the maximum, Reale Avintia Racing Xavier Simeon rode to 17th place at the Grand Prix of Malaysia.
Simeon was the only one representing the team at Sepang, since his teammate Jordi Torres suffered an injury to his left hand in a crash during FP4 on Saturday. The Spanish rider will undergo surgery in the Dexeus University Hospital of Barcelona next week.
Simeon started from 15th place on the grid, after his best qualifying result in the MotoGP class so far. But once again, he struggled at the start and lost a number of positions that were very difficult to recover. Race pace was higher than expected, so the lost seconds on the opening lap cost the Belgian rider dearly and eventually he finished outside of the point rankings.
The MotoGP World Championship will conclude in two weeks with the Grand Prix of Valencia on the Ricardo Tormo circuit. If everything goes according to plan and the expectations of doctors and patient, Tito Rabat will celebrate his comeback aboard his Ducati GP17 at this final round.
“I knew that it would be a difficult race in dry conditions. Even though my start was better than in Australia, it still wasn’t good and I lost all the advantage I had with my starting position. But all in all, I am still satisfied with the outcome of the race, because I hadn’t felt comfortable in dry conditions before and in the race, my pace has been quite consistent and similar to the riders that finished close to the Top 10. Considering this, I am a little frustrated, because I did most of the things right to achieve another place within the point rankings, but I still struggle to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. In MotoGP, everything needs to be perfect and little details can make all the difference. Apart from that, the team has done a great job once again and I reduced the gap to the front runners a lot. In fact, I didn’t expect to be that close. Now we have to wait and see what will happen at Valencia. I hope Tito can ride again and for myself, I hope to enjoy my last race in MotoGP with the team.”
