1. Esteve Rabat (Moto2)
As Grand Prix weekends go, Esteve Rabat’s Catalunya Grand Prix was nothing short of a masterclass. Right from the opening practice session on Friday morning, the Spaniard was virtually in another race to the rest of Moto2 with no-one getting to within half a second of him until the warm-up on Sunday.
The qualifying result simply doesn’t do Rabat’s dominance justice. One of the features of his riding is the relentless consistency and Saturday afternoon gave a graphic demonstration as Esteve set fourteen, yes FOURTEEN separate laps which were all quick enough to secure pole position in their own right.
Maverick Vinales briefly threatened to make a race of it by passing Rabat for the lead in the early stages, mindful that the only chance he had of beating Esteve was get ahead and stay there. But by lap five, Rabat had regained the ascendancy and with such a wonderful rhythm in clear air, there was no chance of Vinales bridging the gap from there.
(Photo Credit: Marc VDS Racing)
