MotoGP GP of Aragón – MotorLand Aragón
Reale Avintia Racing riders Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres battled with the heat over the 19 laps of the Aragón Grand Prix to finish in 19th and 20th position.
To complete the full race distance aboard the Ducati GP17 of his injured team-mate Tito Rabat was a valuable experience for the Belgian rider, who was forced to retire from the previous Grand Prix at Misano due to a crash, but who learned a lot during the race now at Aragón.
On the other side of the garage, Jordi Torres was al smiles after his first experience in the blue ribbon class of motorcycle racing. It wasn’t an easy task to learn so many things in such a short time and with the pressure of a race weekend, but Torre, one of the darlings of the Spanish crowd, improved session by session and finished they race less than a second behind his team-mate. To sum it up, he did a great job.
Should Tito Rabat not get the green light from the medical team of MotoGP to take part at the next round in Thailand, Simeon will have a third opportunity with the Ducati GP17 and Torres will take the vacant seat in the team one more time.
The Grand Prix of Thailand will take place at the Chang International Circuit from 5th to 7th of October.
“This weekend was much more difficult than I expected, as I really thought I’d be able to finish higher up in the classification. But we had a lot of traction problems over the whole weekend. In the race, the last laps were especially difficult. Even though the bike turns very well, I couldn’t get the power down in the moment of opening the throttle. The only positive thing is the additional experience with this bike. Now we have to concentrate on the next race in Thailand where I expect to make another step forward.”
“To complete my first Grand Prix in the MotoGP class was a very emotional experience. A dream came true and I enjoyed every moment of it. It helped me to understand tyre wear, how the bike changes over the distance and how you have to adapt your riding style to the decreasing fuel load. But to be honest, not a lot of this sank in and every time I saw myself getting closer to the front, I made more mistakes. I tried to stay cool during the race and to concentrate on my riding position, but I’m still too rigid on the bike. I would have liked to stay with another rider in the race, but nevertheless, I am very happy. Now we’ll have to wait and see if Tito will fly to Thailand or not. I am prepared for whatever is needed.”
