MotoGP GP of the Americas – COTA
Reale Avintia Racing rider Tito Rabat had a strong start at the Grand Prix of the Americas. With every time he takes to the track, the Spanish rider gains more confidence with his Ducati GP17 and on the first day of practice on the spectacular Circuit of the Americas, he was within the ten fastest riders for most of the time. Only at the very end of both free practice sessions, he dropped out of the Top Ten rankings. He finished the day in twelfth position despite a heavy crash, which he luckily walked away from without any injuries. If it doesn’t rainon Saturday, Rabat hopes to move to Q2 directly.
For his teammate Xavier Simeon, the day felt like beginning from scratch. For the MotoGP rookie from Belgium, the Circuit of the Americas seemed like a completely new track aboard his MotoGP bike. He struggled a bit in the first session, but then his riding style got more and more fluid and his feeling improved. On Saturday, he hopes to make another step forward and to achieve a good grid position for the race on Sunday.
“It was a very good day. I thought that I would be struggling a lot, but things went better than I expected. In the morning, the track condition was really poor, but in the afternoon, the grip improved as there was less dust on the tarmac. I had a lot of confidence and I felt comfortable all day long. I had a crash this afternoon, but I went out again after that and immediately settled into my rhythm again. My goal tomorrow is to do a good job in FP3 and move up to Q2 directly.”
“It was a tough challenge for me to understand this track with the Ducati and I didn’t feel comfortable in the first session. The second session was much better, but I still need to improve in many ways. Mor than anything I have to work on my seating position because I am a bit tense on the bike and this track is physically very demanding. If I achieve that, I can make a lot of progress. I simply have to ride more relaxed in order to be fast. The Ducati is one of the most difficult bikes to ride on this track, especially in the first sector, where it is really tough to get the bike to turn”
