29/01/18 Sepang MotoGP Test – Sepang International Circuit
When MotoGP riders arrived this morning to Sepang, they’ve found a damp track after overnight rain, but unlike yesterday the Malaysian sun was shining and the track surface dried up quickly. Before lunch time, Reale Avintia Racing riders were ready to jump on their bikes and continue working.
Tito Rabat improved again his rhthym and compared to the first day his race pace was a second faster. The former Moto2 World Champion has been working very well with his crew and improved in more than half a second his best lap time from the first day, even so, he wanted to improve a bit more at the end. In the 30 minutes went out with a new rear Michelin slick tyre for a time attack, pero a rain shower ruined his plan of improving his lap times.
Xavier Simeon has also taken a big step forward in his adaptation process to the MotoGP class. The Belgian rider, following the advice of the team and his ‘coach’ Ruben Xaus, is steadely improving his riding style bettering his time from yesterday by almost 1.5s. His goal for the winter test is not just make a fast lap, but to learn as much as possible before the MotoGP World Championship starts in Qatar next March.
“Today was a day to try many different things in the set up of the bike to see what we like and what we don’t like. I’m happy because we have clear which way to follow and although we didn’t complete many laps, all of them have been effective and have allowed us to test what we wanted to test. For tomorrow, if tonight doesn’t rain, the intention is to start early and try to improve the lap time but, to be honest, I’m happy with the pace we have and specially because I’m doing fast times riding on my own. We have to concentrate to make the most of the last day and if everything goes well I would like to do a race simulation”.
“I’m very happy because today we did a big step compared to yesterday, and even during the afternoon with used tyres I was able to improve. Every time I go out on track I feel better with the bike, every time I understand the tyres better, I’m changing my position and little by little and I’m riding more in the style requiered by a MotoGP machine; lifting the bike as soon as possible and trying to brake as late as possible. At the end of the day we put a set of fresh soft tyres to try to improve the lap times and, honestly, I expected to improve a bit more. Especially seeing how the other riders with the new tyre were doing a big improvement. I expected to be able to do the same, but it is clear that I still have many things to learn”.
