MotoGP – GP of Valencia – Ricardo Tormo Circuit

Reale Avintia Racing rider Jordi Torres scored his first ever MotoGP World Championship point today at Valencia. Torres was the only rider of the team at the last race of the season, after Xavier Simeon was declared unfit to race due to concussion.

With his left thumb operated just one week before the race, Torres took advantage of the rain, since he needed to apply less pressure on the handlebars in wet conditions. The target of the Spanish rider was to finish the race, which he achieved.

The race was red-flagged due to heavy rain after about half the distance and restarted for the remaining 14 laps. In both heats, Torres finished in the point rankings and was cheered on by 97.201 fans who were stoically watching the action from the grandstands even in torrential rain.

On Tuesday, the new 2019 season kicks off for Team Reale Avintia Racing, with the first official MotoGP test at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit. Tito Rabat will return to action almost three months after his leg injury. He will have a new teammate, Karel Abraham fro the Czech Republic. Both riders will have brand new Ducati GP18 in the garage.

“Today was a good day. Yesterday I rode six or seven laps in dry conditions and I had no force left in my hand whatsoever. We were aware that dry conditions would be difficult for us, but in the wet I knew I would be able to finish the race. I had a good start, but on the first laps there was zero visibility because of the spray from the other bikes. Visibility improved with every lap and I tried to follow the group in front of me, but as everybody could see, it was quite easy to crash in today’s conditions. Then they decided to stop the race. In the second heat I tried to ride as smoothly as possible, because the target was to finish the race and to secure our first point, which we did. I want to say a big thank you to my team because they did a fantastic job to adapt the handlebar to my hand and to Dr. Mir, because he did a master job with my hand and only one week after the surgery I was able to race”.

MotoGP GP of Valencia – Ricardo Tormo

Reale Avintia Racing rider Xavier Simeon will miss out on his last race in the MotoGP World Championship. After two crashes on Friday, the Belgian rider was in discomfort during the night and eventually diagnosed with concussion. Xavier wanted to get back on the bike today but was declared unfit to race by Dr. Ángel Charte. He has to rest for at least 48 hours and it would not have been safe to race, neither for him nor for the other riders.
Jordi Torres was therefore the only representative of the team on the track today, making steady progress and improving a lot compared to Friday. In FP3 in wet conditions on Saturday morning the rider from Rubí was faster already, but it was in qualifying on a dry track where he made his biggest step forward. Torres will start the race on Sunday from 23rd place position of the grid and his lap time today was just three seconds slower than the time of pole position.
The warm-up session on Sunday will start at 9:40h, the MotoGP race of the season is scheduled for 14:00h, with rain forecasted for the entire day.

“It’s a real shame that I’m unable to ride. I had unexpected complications after yesterday’s crashes and even though I feel all right now, the doctors declared me unfit to race. Finishing my first and last year in MotoGP in this way is not what I had dreamed of, especially since I had a good chance to do well in wet conditions. I want to apologize to all my fans and the team. I would have liked to say goodbye with a good result, but it was not meant to happen. It’s very frustrating”.

“I felt much better better today and from FP3 on, we made a good step forward in the wet, which has been positive for my first weekend in these conditions. In FP4 the track dried up and in the end we mounted slick tyres, but the track was not dry at all and we didn’t take any risks. Except for a couple of wet patches, the track was dry in qualifying and we were able to improve. I expected it to be worse with my hand injury, because every time the bike moves I see the stars…but at least we don’t start from the last spot of the grid”.

MotoGP GP de Valencia – Ricardo Tormo

Reale Avintia Racing rider Xavier Simeon completed the first day of practice for the Valencia Grand Prix with good feelings in the rain and finished in the top 15 despite scrashing twice.
In the morning session, he was very fast and consistently in the top 10, but when he pushed even harder to find the limit he had a high-side crash in turn 13. After passing through the hospital to rule out injuries to his head, Simeon returned to action in FP2. Despite the difficult conditions with even harder rain and despite suffering another crash, he finished 11th in the afternoon session and ended up 15th in the combines standings of the first day.
Jordi Torres didn’t have an easy day. His injured left thumb didn’t bother him too much on the bike, but the conditions were definitely too dangerous to take any risks. Without pushing too hard, the Spanish rider gained more knowledge about the behavior of his Ducati and the Michelin tyres in the wet. Tomorrow he hopes to take a step forward and get closer to the riders in front of him.
FP3 will start at 9:55 am on Saturday, followed by FP4 at 13:30 pm and qualifying from 14:10 pm.

“The conditions were difficult, but I enjoyed riding a lot. I had two crashes, and the first one this morning was a heavy one. I lost control on the penultimate corner and I had a high-side. I hit the asphalt quite hard and went to the hospital in Valencia to make sure that everything was all right in my head. Fortunately everything is fine, at least the way it was before the crash! In the afternoon my feelings were good again and my second crash was a bit strange, because I lost the rear on the corner entry. But I’m fine and tomorrow I want to continue and improve”.

“The day went very well, much better than I expected. If they had told me that I would be here racing a week after the operation, I would not have believed it. I have to thank Dr. Mir, Macna for making me a special glove and also my team because they have done a great job to make things easier for me on the bike. They have made a different handlebar to support my injured hand and it works very well. At the beginning it was like playing dice, but everything worked out well. The wet conditions were difficult but also an advantage for us because you don’T have to brake as hard and you need less force to handle the bike. It my first time in the rain with a MotoGP bike and with the Michelin wet tyres and although the difference is very big, I found the right feeling and tomorrow we will improve for sure.”

This Friday 16 at 19:00 In the Hospitality de Avintia, we will present PARS (Paralyzation System).

After two years of development and several tests, this safety system for motorcycle riders will finally be part of the series of systems designed to offer security to the users.

The simplicity of PARS will ensure that everyone can use this device because it is convenient, easy and economical.

At the presentation there will be all the world champion pilots, the managers and the most bound people with the project from its first days.

In a relaxed atmosphere, its creator, David Martinez, will show the product ready to be sold. We hope that you can attend this presentation and that you pass the word of this news that without doubts will be important for the motorcycling world.

For any questions, please contact us

Kike Gonzalez

Prensa.- 0034 722 237 562

info@pars.es

MotoGP GP of Valencia – Ricardo Tormo

Reale Avintia Racing team riders Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres head to the Ricardo Tormo Circuit this weekend for the last round of the 2018 MotoGP World Championship, the Grand Prix of Valencia.
For Xavier Simeon it will be a very special weekend, because it will be the last one in MotoGP class before his new adventure in the FIM MotoE Cup next season. Simeon will rider the Ducati GP17 of Tito Rabat again, the same bike he raced to score points at the Australian Grand Prix. The 29-year-old Belgian rider is keen to score more points in his farewell of the premier class.

Jordi Torres heads to Valencia far from being in best shape, after undergoing surgery to set the fracture in the metacarpal bone of his left thumb last week. However, the work done by Dr. Mir has been fantastic and the Spanish rider hopes to be competitive in his last race with the team.
The MotoGP action will start with FP1 on Friday at 9:55 am. The race is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 pm.

“Valencia will be a very exciting and special Grand Prix for me, because it will be my last one in MotoGP. Tito hasn’t recovered enough to compete at this race, but I hope he can make a strong comeback at the test next week. Being able to ride the GP17 again this weekend is an important opportunity for me, because in the last few races, we improved a lot with the bike and I hope to continue in the same line in Valencia. I want to finish my MotoGP career in the best possible way on a circuit that I like a lot and I want to enjoy every minute of this weekend.”

“I look forward to racing in Valencia. It is the last of the year and it is our home Grand Prix, which makes it very special. It’s a pity that I’ll be a little bit limited after the injury in Malaysia, but my thumb gets better every day and if we manage to modify the handlebar in a way that makes riding a bit easier, I think the weekend will go well. I want to thank Dr. Mir and his team, because my recovery was super fast. Valencia is a very technical circuit and I have always been fast on this track, even though I have not raced there in a long time.”

MotoGP – Reale Avintia Racing – GP of Valencia

Reale Avintia Racing team rider, Tito Rabat, jumped back on a motorcycle last Tuesday, 73 days after suffering a triple fracture in his right leg during the course of FP4 session for the British Grand Prix. The Spanish rider has been riding his training Ducati Panigale V4, and with more than 200 HP, it was a good test for Rabat’s strenght.

His feelings with the bike were positive, however, 2014 Moto2 World Champion, realized that he is still far from his best physical condition and, therefore, has decided together with the team and Dr. Angel Charte, not to take part in the Grand Prix of Valencia and postpone his return until the official MotoGP tests, at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, from November 20 to 21.
Tito Rabat will climb on his new Ducati GP18, the same bike with which Dovizioso and Lorenzo raced to the top of the podium six times this season.

“I have been working hard for more than two months since I got injured, my leg is getting better everyday and I have been able to test with my Panigale in a couple of circuits. I have seen that on the bike the leg is not a problem, but I have also seen that I’m still not 100%, therefore, it would be very dangerous for me and the other riders to return for next weekend’s Valencia race. We believe it is the best decision. But for sure I will try the at test on Tuesday with my new Ducati GP18. We will see how I feel and then keep working to recover my leg to reach the top before next season. This is the most important thing”.

MotoGP Reale Avintia Racing – Barcelona

On Tuesday, Reale Avintia Racing rider Jordi Torres underwent surgery in the University Hospital Dexeus in Barcelona. In charge of the procedure was Dr. Xavier Mir, specialist for upper extremeties within the Catalonian Institute of Traumatology and Sports Medicine ICATME. In a minimally invasive intervention, Dr. Mir inserted various cannulated bone compression screws to set a displaced intra-articular fracture to the base of the metacarpal bone of the left thumb. Torres had suffered the injury in a practice crash during the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang last weekend. He was discharged from the hospital today and he will start rehabilition this week.

“The surgery went well. It took a little more time than Dr. Mir thought initially, because there were small bone fragments floating around. Aided by an arthroscope, the magic hands of Dr. Mir inserted two screws and successfully put these bone pieces back into their place. It hurts a little, but everything went well and I was able to go home already. I’ll start to move the other fingers this week and I’ll see the doctor again on Monday.”

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.”

MotoGP GP de Malasia – Sepang

Reale Avintia Racing rider, Xavier Simeon, achieved his best qualifying result so far this season today at in Sepang International Circuit. Tomorrow he will start Malaysian Grand Prix from 15th place of the grid.
The weather played again a big role today and both qualifying sessions in MotoGP have been in wet conditions. Simeon did a good job in Q1 with the Belgian rider loosing a place in Q2 for just two tenths of a second. This positive result of Xavier Simeon, which today was the fastest Rookie of the day, has been sweet feelling for Reale Avintia Racing in Sepang.
The bitter part was for his teammate, Jordi Torres, who suffered a big crash during FP4 and he womnt be able to race tomorrow. He fractured one metacarpal of the thumb of his left hand. Without any warning from the marshals, Torres went from turn 10 to 11, opened the throttle and suffered a big high side because the track was competely wet. The weekend started very well for the Spanish rider, but it came to and end before than expected.
The time schedule for Sunday has been revised because of the forecast of inclement weather with the 20-lap-race, scheduled for 1pm local time.

“It was a shame because and we missed Q2 by just 0.2s. I feel really comfortable in wet conditions with this bike, but today was the first time his season we had completely wet conditions. I just had 15 minutes to give my best, and I was cautious in the first few laps and this was my mistake because the best laps of the tyre were the first laps. In the end I pushed and, although I improved, I lost Q2 by two tenths. But at the end of the day I am happy because it is my best qualifying of the year. Now I hope to have a wet race tomorrow, because, to be honest, we are struggling in dry conditions. Even so, we will see how the warm-up goes, although better if it rains.”

“Today was a disaster. We had the opportunity to do it very well and,it was completely the oposite. This morning the track still had some wet patches and I touched one and crashed in turn 9, but it was a very low speed crash. In FP4 the intention was clearly to pick up the pace for the race but, without warning, it has started to rain and had a big high side in acceleration. Luckily I only fractured the thumb of my left hand, but unfortunately the race weekend is finish for me. I will get surgery in Barcelona next week and we will see how it goes.”

MotoGP GP of Malaysia – Sepang

Reale Avintia Racing riders Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres finished the first day of practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix in 21st and 22nd position.

The heat, the humidity and repeated thunderstorms were main players on this Friday, but the MotoGP riders were lucky enough for both free practice sessions to take place on a dry tarmac.

Xavier Simeon had a lot of problems to find traction on the corner exits. He and his team worked hard to improve the grip levels of his rear Michelin tyre. At the end of the day, he made a step forward and finished just ahead of his teammate in the classification.

For Jordi Torres, the first day on the Malaysian track was very positive, as he gained a lot of confidence in the front end of his Ducati. He finished just behind Simeon, with a gap of only 40 thousandths of a second separating the Reale Avintia duo. It looks as if, quite like at the race in Japan, the teammates will race each other again on Sunday.

On Saturday, both expect to make another step and to qualify more towards the front of the starting grid.

“It was quite a difficult day because I didn’t have enough rear grip. We worked all day long to find a solution and to solve this particular problem. In the end, we made a small step in the right direction, but we have to improve further in order to make the best possible use of our bike’s potential. We need to find a set-up that makes us faster, but more than anything more consistent.”

“Things went well today, much better than I expected on such a long and wide circuit as Sepang. It is difficult to find the most efficient line here, but in the end we clocked a decent lap time. Maybe it could have even better if I had managed to string a faultless lap together, but I am happy regardless because we worked well and we passed the exam of the first day. I gained a lot of confidence and I made a big step forward on the corner entries. Tomorrow we will work on improving the corner exits.”