Tito Rabat says he is looking to “draw a line” under the first three races of 2015 as the Moto2 world championship arrives in Europe this weekend. The defending champion has just 17 points to his name after first-lap mistakes in Qatar, Texas and Argentina but is refusing to panic at the 36 point margin between himself and Johann Zarco and remains confident of closing him down.
“I’ve been on the pace and competitive since the start of the season but, for one reason or another, I didn’t get the results we were expecting in the overseas races. Now, as we head to Spain for the first of the European races, I need to draw a line under what’s gone before and start again this weekend. We’re only three races in and the season is long. Yes, we’ve made more work for ourselves, but every race we improved the bike and we were fast; and being fast is the most important thing. If we can qualify well and I can avoid any problems at the start of the race then I think it’s possible to fight for the podium again this weekend in Jerez.”
Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS teammate Alex Marquez has also found life difficult so far this season but having tested a Moto2 machine at Jerez during the winter, Marquez expects to be in a better position to compete this weekend.
“Riding in front of your home crowd is always special for a rider but equally important is that in Jerez we will be able to refer back to data collected during testing for the first time this season. We need to work to improve my feeling with the front of the bike mid-corner, as this was the biggest issue for me in Argentina. We can see from comparing my data with Tito’s that this is where I am losing almost all my time at the moment, so it’s important that we focus on this during practice and qualifying in order to find a solution ahead of the race. I am looking forward to the weekend ahead and the fact that we’re racing in Spain just adds to my motivation.”
