Category: MotoGP

MotoGP GP of Australia – Phillip Island

Reale Avintia Racing rider Xavier Simeon scored his first world championship point in the MotoGP class at the Australian Grand Prix today. Throughout the weekend, he showed how competitive he is on Phillip Island, Even though he didn’t have the best possible start, he was able to recover several positions and fought until the end to make sure of his first point in the premier class.
His teammate Jordi Torres was not happy after the race, since he had a promising race pace in the warm-up practice this morning. But conditions changed again at Phillip Island. The warmer, sunny conditions and higher track temperatures for the race were no problem, but it was windy and this affected Torres more than expected.

The Reale Avintia Racing riders will now head to Sepang for the Malaysian Grand Prix, the 18^th round of the MotoGP World Championship scheduled for November 2^nd to 4^th.

“I have a lot of problems with the clutch and once again, my start was horrible. I was last again, but this time at least I was able to recover some positions on the first lap. The bike was very good and I had the pace to fight between eleventh and fifteenth position. Ten laps from the end though, the left flank of the rear tyre was destroyed and I had to slow down. Therefore I’m a little bit disappointed. The weekend has been very good and I always felt strong, but we depend too much on tyre wear. Apart from this, I’m super happy about achieving my first MotoGP point and I want to thank my team because they helped me a lot since I got on this bike. In Malaysia we have to improve the start and work more with the tyres for the race. I hope to have fun again like here and score more points.”

“Today’s race has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. This morning in the warm-up I felt pretty strong and we had a very promising pace. But it was more windy in the race and tyres maybe did not reach the right working temperature on the first laps because twice I was close to a crash when I tried to push. This affected my confidence and I wasn’t riding comfortably throughout the race. I know what I have to do to go fast, but I lacked the confidence to do it. At least I’m gaining experience in every race and I hope things will go better in Malaysia. Sepang is a very long circuit and I’ll have to learn many things in a short time, because the other riders have done lot of kilometres over there. The heat will also be a new challenge for me. I hope to my level of fitness is high enough.”

MotoGP GP of Australia – Phillip Island

Reale Avintia Racing rider Xavier Simeon celebrated his best qualifying session of the season today at Phillip Island, finishing 17th with a best lap time of 1’30.679.
The Belgian rider managed to get more feedback and a better feeling with the soft rear Michelin tyre and is now another step closer to his goal of scoring points in the premier class. He hopes to further refine the set-up of his Ducati GP17 in the warm-up practice on Sunday morning, to improve his start and to gain some positions in the race in order to finally open his MotoGP points account.
His teammate Jordi Torres suffered a high speed crash this morning in turn 8 during FP3. The accident somehow dampened his confidence for a while, but in Q1 in the afternoon, he made a strrong comeback and improved his pace. Even more important was his consistency in FP4 with the hard rear tyre, which boosted his hopes to be able to fight with other riders in the race.

The MotoGP warm-up will start at 11:40h local time. The 27-lap-race is scheduled for 16:00h.

“This was the best weekend for me and for the team this season so far. We continued to work in the direction we took in Japan, where I was very comfortable with the bike, and as a consequence, I feel very good here as well. My sensations are the best I’ve had this year and we are getting closer. If I had been just two tenths of a second faster, I would have qualified within the top 15. My goal for tomorrow is to make a good start and fight for my first points in MotoGP. I really think points are within reach this weekend, but first of all we have to wait and see what the weather will be like, because it is always unpredictable her on Phillip Island. I want to thank the team because they are doing a great job and riding my bike is a lot of fun.”

“It’s been a day of ups and downs. This morning I suffered a crash that I still can’t understand and that certainly didn’t help our progression. We finished FP3 with great caution and it took some time to get the feeling back with the bike. In FP4 we mounted the hard rear tyre and I liked it. We still have to improve our race pace a lot, but I finished quite satisfied. Q1 wasn’t bad because I felt comfortable again after my high speed crash. All in all we are getting closer and I hope I can take another step forward tomorrow.”

MotoGP GP de Australia – Phillip Island

The first free practice sessions for the Australian Grand Prix took place today at the fast and spectacular Phillip Island circuit, with Reale Avintia Racing riders Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres finishing 20^th and 22^nd in the combined time sheets.
The whole program of the day was delayed when a Moto3 rider sprayed oil all around the track, but following the intervention of the Race Direction and the circuit marshalls, action resumed two hours later. After rain showers in the morning, finally all sessions were held in dry and sunny, but cool conditions, which is the usual weather for this time of the year on Phillip Island.
Xavier Simeon discovered Phillip Island on a MotoGP bike today. The Belgian was satisfied with his pace using the hard rear tyre option of Michelin, although he hopes to improve also with the soft compound in order to get the best grid position for Sunday’s race.
His teammate Jordi Torres also used the first day to discover the 4.4km circuit on his Ducati MotoGP bike. Torres knows the Australian venue well, as he finished on the podium in Moto2 back in 2013 and was fourth in his debut race in WSBK in 2015. However, all his former references were not valid for MotoGP and today he made sure to go step by step in learning the circuit again and getting comfortable with his Desmosedici. Tomorrow, with all references re-set, he hopes to take a step forward in qualifying.

“It was a crazy day. This a real circuit and riding a MotoGP bike here is another world compared to Moto2. I got injured here last year, which is why I took it easy on the first few laps today. Later on, with increasing confidence, we started to improve and got faster on each exit. I’m satisfied with my pace, but when I grabbed a soft rear tyre towards the end, I was not able to improve. My feeling was not good and I didn’t have enough grip to go faster. It should not be like that, but at the moment I find myself more comfortable with the hard tyre. Tomorrow I hope to enjoy riding the bike again and to improve my position on the grid.”

“We had a good day. We took things calmly because even though I know the circuit, my references from the past were different because and I was used to get to the turns at a different speed. Once I had adjusted to the additional spee of the MotoGP bike, we started to improve the set-up step by step. Maybe we took it a little bit too easy, because in the end we ran out of time and couldn’t push for a faster lap. But overall we worked well. There were a lot of crashes today and I didn’t want to destroy the bike or get hurt. It was very important to finish both sessions on the bike. With the additional experience, I ‘m sure I can take another step tomorrow.”

MotoGP GP of Japan – Twin Ring Motegi

Reale Avintia Racing riders Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres finished today’s Japanese Grand Prix in 16^th and 17^th place.

Xavier Simeon had a poor start from the penultimate row of the grid and he did his best to recover during the race. But even though, these first few laps cost him a lot of time and he lost contact with the group of riders that eventually scored points.

On his third race with Reale Avintia Racing, Jordi Torres made a big step forward. Motegi is a circuit where the Spaniard always struggled in the past, but on this occasion, he improved in every session. Today in the race, he was challenging his teammate until the chequered flag. He also discovered more things on his bike and the Michelin tyres.

The next MotoGP World Championship round takes place in Phillip Island in five days.

“To be honest, I think my race today was very good. I clocked decent lap times and I was close to score points. The biggest problem today was the start. I’m not able to start well with this bike and in the first lap I found myself in last position. At the beginning of the race my pace was not the best and I lost contact with the group that was fighting for points. I leave Japan with mixed feelings, because today I had the pace to score points and we didn’t succeed. On the other hand I’m happy, because this weekend was really positive. I was very comfortable with the bike and we were closer. The team did an excellent job and they keep helping me a lot to improve.”

“The weekend was positive, although I made some mistakes and I crashed. But all in all, the weekend was very good. And even more so considering what a difficult circuit Motegi is, with a lot of hard braking, where it is easy to make mistakes. I tried to ride the bike in a smoother way. I had a good start and overtook some riders, but a little later on the grip level dropped and I decided to try and change my riding style to stay competitive. I managed to adapt to the change in tyre performance, which had been my target, and to achieve it was for sure the most positive thing of the weekend.”

MotoGP GP of Japan – Twin Ring Motegi

Reale Avintia Racing riders completed the qualifying practice for the Japanese Grand Prix at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in sunny and warm conditions.

Xavier Simeon will start Sunday’s 24-lap-race from the 22^nd place of the grid, while his teammate Jordi Torres qualified in 25^th place. Both expected much more from the qualifying session, but both suffered small setbacks with early crashes.
Torres was the first to fall on Saturday morning in FP3 and, although the mechanics did a great job to repair his bike on time, was not able to take advantage of fresh Michelin tyres in qualifying.
Simeon suffered a minor crash in FP4. However, an important piece broke on his Ducati, which prevented him from going to Q1 with the same bike. Although the set-up of the second bike was similar, the Belgian rider didn’t have the same feeling and will therefore start the race from the penultimate row of the grid.
The MotoGP warm-up session is scheduled for 9:40h, while the race will start at 14:00h local time.

“We had a really good pace throughout the weekend so far and we made a step forward for sure. Unfortunately, I was not able to go into qualifying with my first bike. I had a small crash in FP4, in which an important piece broke, and my team did not have enough time repair the bike for qualifying. I felt okay with the second bike, but I didn’t have the same feeling as with the number one bike, because the set-up was slightly different. Nevertheless, I think I can do a good race tomorrow and fight to get my first points in the championship.”

“Today I had a good feeling with the bike. Unfortunately, I trusted the front tyre a little too muuch and crashed ona corner entrance. The team did a fantastic job repairing the bike and I had both bikes ready for FP4. We did several laps with used tyres and we kept the same pace, which is very good. But when we mounted a new rear soft tyre for time-attack, I was not able to use it to my advantage. I still have to learn to brake at the right time, maybe a little earlier, so I can prepare the entrance of the turn better and exit with more throttle.”

Esponsorama Racing MotoE – GP of Japan – Twin Ring Motegi

Esponsorama is pleased to announce their rider line-up for the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup in 2019. Xavier Simeon and Eric Granado will take part in the challenge for the first ever title in the history of motorcycling racing being contested with electric bikes, with five races on different European circuits next year and 18 riders competing with the same machines.

After a year in MotoGP, this will be a completely new experience for Xavi Simeon. The 29-year-old Belgian rider, winner of the German Moto2 Grand Prix 2015, is enthusiastic about this next step in his racing career and he hopes to be competitive and to put up a fight from the first moment on.

Eric Granado is the fastest and popular Brazilian rider and the 22 year-old has previous experience in the World Championship in Moto3 and Moto2 classes. He won the Moto2 European Championship in 2017 and now is racing in Brazil with Honda. Eric is known as a fierce fighter and there is no doubt that he will provide a spectacular show on the Energica Ego Corsa as well.

At the end of November, the first official tests of this class will take place at the Jerez circuit. On May 5^th, 2019, Jerez will also host the first of the five races in the MotoE calendar next year. Simeon and Granado will then move on to Le Mans Le Mans (May 19^th), Sachsenring (July 7^th), Spielberg (August 11^th) and Misano (September 15^th).

“Without a doubt, this will be an important step in my racing career. I love the idea of being part of the first world championship with a completely new generation of competition bikes. It will be a completely different, but at the same time a very exciting experience. I have been thinking about this change for months, because I am at a stage of my sporting career where it is very important to take the right decisions for the future. I experienced a year in MotoGP, which hasn’t been easy at all, and now I’m very happy to be part of a new adventure in this championship and with my team. I can’t wait to go testing and see what we can achieve, because even though the bikes will be completely different, the level of the riders will be as high as in the other categories. But now, there are still four races to go in the current championship. From here until Valencia, I am determined to keep fighting and working hard with the aim of scoring some points in MotoGP.”

Eric Granado

“I want to say big thanks to Raúl and Bocha and the whole team for giving me this great opportunity, I’m looking forward to start and test the bike for the first time in Jerez. The MotoE World Cup is something new for everybody. It will be a question mark how the bike will work and how we will have to adapt our riding style to be competitive. But I’m sure that with the support from the team we will be competitive from the first race. MotoE will be a milestone in road racing motorcycling and I’m pleased to be part of this new adventure. I’m ready and I’ll train hard to get to the maximum level for the first test in Jerez. I want to thank my family and all the people supporting me from Brazil. Now, full throttle!!”

MotoGP GP of Japan – Twin Ring Motegi

Reale Avintia Racing rider Xavier Simeon had his best ever Friday in MotoGP on Twin Ring Motegi, finishing in 16^th place just 1.6s behind the fastest rider Andrea Dovizioso.

The opening day of practice for the Japanese Grand Prix was disrupted by intermittent rain showers before FP2, which cost the team valuable track time for their task of finding the best possible set-up for the bikes. But in the morning, Simeon was fast and consistent in dry conditions, reporting positive feelings with the bike.

In the afternoon session, the Belgian was one of the few riders who went out in tricky damp conditions. He finished eight after swapping to Michelin slick tyres in the final minutes, when the track started to dry.

His Reale Avintia teammate Jordi Torres decided to sit the session out in the garage without taking unnecessary risks. In the morning he’d done a step forward in his learning process and he was 22^nd with a best lap of 1’47.665. Most importantly, he started with good feelings and, although he wasn’t able to try a fast lap in FP2, he is determined to improve in dry conditions tomorrow.

The action on Saturday will start at 9:55 am local time with FP3, followed by FP4 at 13:30 h and Qualifying at 14:10 h.

“This was my best first day in MotoGP and I’m very happy. Every time I ride the bike I feel better and it’s a relief to see myself higher up in the time sheets. In the afternoon, the circuit was never completely dry. But in the end, we did the last run on slicks. The feeling was positive and I got more experience in these tricky conditions. This is a stop-and-go circuit and our bike performs really well. I hope to continue in this line tomorrow”.

“This was a positive Friday. It made a noticeable difference that I hadn’t been racing on another bike last weekend, as I was able to recall the feeling I had during the Thailand GP and build on that, riding in a more natural way. I learned lots again, especially in the morning, even though I first had to find the reference points around the track.”

MotoGP GP of Japan – Twin Ring Motegi

Reale Avintia Racing Team riders Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres head to Motegi for the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend. The Japanese round is the first of three races on consecutive weekends, with Phillip Island (Australia) and Sepang (Malaysia) to follow.

Simeon heads to Motegi highly motivated following his performance at the Chan International Circuit last time. In Thailand, the Belgian rider was really comfortable riding his Ducati GP17 and this weekend at the Twin Ring Motegi, he expects to be competitive and fight for the top 15 positions.

Spaniard Jordi Torres will continue to replace injured Tito Rabat. In his third race in MotoGP, Torres wants to make the most of his previous experiences with the bike and the MIchelin tyres in order to get closer to other riders. He already beat some rivals at Buriram and he wants more in Motegi.

The MotoGP action will start on Friday with FP1 at 9:55h local time.

“We made a step forward in Thailand with the bike set-up and I hope this set-up will also work in Motegi. I’ve never been so comfortable with the bike and no doubt it was my best race in MotoGP so far. The Twin Ring Motegi will suit our Ducati and I’ll work hard from Friday get the best of the weekend, trying to fight for my first points in the premier class on Sunday.”

“We arrive at Japan with high expectations. I didn’t race in Motegi since 2014, but I like the track because it’s quite technical and features hard braking points. I hope to understand the bike and the riding style better to be more efficient. It was good not riding bikes in the last few days because this allows me to bring all the feelings from Thailand to Japan without any interference. It will be great to keep working with the team and learn more in these overseas races, where you live together and you bond with the team even more. I trained a lot before this race and I’ll be physically and mentally fit for this weekend.”

MotoGP GP of Thailand – Chang International Circuit

Reale Avintia Racing riders Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres took 19^th and 20^th place at the first ever Thai Grand Prix on the Chang International Circuit today. The most difficult mission was just to finish the race due to the extreme tropical heat, with air temperatures soaring to more than 32 degrees and the track surface heating up to more than 50 degrees.

Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres rode almost the entire race together. At times, Torres got close to his teammate, only for Simeon to pull away again and to manage the gap. In the end. Simeon crossed the line a little more than two seconds before Torres.

The next round of the MotoGP World Championship will take place in Japan in two weeks time. At Twin Ring Motegi, Simeon and Torres will have another opportunity to improve and to score their first points of the season.

“First of all, I have to admit that I did a bad start once again and I was not able to attack in the first few corners as I would have like to. But apart of that, the race was not so bad. I tried to keep a constant and fast rhythm, only that the rear tyre consumption on the left flank was more excessive than we expected and it was hard to manage tyre grip until the end. Nevertheless, I think the team did a great job over the weekend and we were able to take a big step. We couldn’t fight for points, because starting from the back always makes this a difficult task. But overall the weekend was quite positive and I think this was my best race so far this season.”

“I think that the race was okay, because I was able to finish a really hard race in scorching hot conditions, with tyres that are vey different to the ones I’m used to and that wear in a completely different way. But more than anything, I had to learn how to manage fuel consumption, changing the engine mappings when I was signalled to do so from the pits, and to be smoother with the throttle…there were many new things and therefore, I wasn’t riding as smoothly as I would have liked to. I didn’t ride according to my talent, instead I was riding in a programmed way. As far as everything else goes,the race was okay, I amanged to show my front wheel to a couple of other riders, which had been my plan, and later I was able to hunt Xavi and get close to him. I just didn’t have the courage to show him my wheel as well.”

MotoGP GP of Thailand– Chang International Circuit

Reale Avintia Racing team riders Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres improved their lap times on the second day of practice for the Thai Grand Prix and qualified in 20^th and 21^st position for the race on Sunday.
Once again, the extreme heat was tough on everybody on the Chang International Circuit, challenging riders and their bikes to the extreme.

Nevertheless, Xavier Simeon kept pushing and managed to improve his Friday lap times in FP3 on Saturday morning. After this succesful step, he delivered in qualifying and secured 20^th position for a start from seventh row of the grid.
His teammate Jordi Torres, will start right behind the Belgian rider. He also took a massive step in his adaptation to the Ducati MotoGP bike and the Michelin tyres and was just fractions of a second slower than Simeon in only his second Grand Prix with Reale Avintia Racing.
The MotoGP race on Sunday will start at 14:00h local time (9:00h Spanish time).

“It has been a very, very positive day. We made a big change to the bike that allowed me to take a good step forward for the first time ever. I did not expect that and it felt great to be able to improve our lap times by so much. We are now on the heels of the riders in front of me, which makes me very happy. If we compare to the test, I improved my best time by four tenths of a second, and this in completely different conditions, with the track being nowhere near as fast as it was back in February. I am also very happy with the work of the team because today the guys gave me a very competitive bike and I had fun riding, even though it is obvious that it is still not enough and we must do more. For the race, we have tried to get a good pace with the rear hard tyre and it has gone quite well. But races are always another story, so we’ll see.”

“We changed my riding position yesterday so I would be less tense on the bike, position, and this change really paid off today. A very big step in our overall performance became obvious as soon as I went out in FP3. Then in FP4, we concentrated on working for the race, trying to maintain the pace lap after lap, which is still difficult for me. In Q1 I tried to go for an all-out attack, but I still lack the knowledge and experience to find that extra speed, because it’s not about braking harder or accelerating earlier. Instead, it is all about preparing the corner entry better and getting the maximum lean angle as fast as possible… It is a puzzle of many things and there are still pieces missing before I can ride the bike in a way that is natural for me. In the race tomorrow, I hope I can put up a fight with some other riders, in order to learn everything I possibly can. My intention is to show the others my front wheel as often as possible”.