Tito Rabat believes he will be in a better position to compete against the MotoGP field this weekend when he makes his premier class debut at Losail. The 2014 Moto2 champion has endured a problematic pre-season testing programme, often finding himself towards the bottom of the timesheets, but the Spaniard feels progress has been made since then.
“The last day of the Qatar test wasn’t a good one for us; too many crashes and a lack of confidence with the bike. Since then we’ve spent some time looking through the data and we think we’ve identified some areas in which we can improve the bike, which is positive for us. In myself I feel strong, ready to start the season and confident I can accelerate the learning process with more riders on track during the practice and qualifying sessions. My goal for this first weekend is to improve with every session and then give it my best shot in the race on Sunday.”
EG 0,0 Marc VDS teammate Jack Miller has also struggled in the run-up to the 2016 season opener but with many of his problems down to fitness, the Australian doesn’t expect life to be quite as difficult when he takes to the track this weekend.
“We’ve had some time to go through the data from the Qatar test and we know where we need to improve the bike when we head back for the first race of the season. Since the test I’ve also had more time to work on my injured ankle and I have much more mobility in the joint now, which will definitely help this weekend. I’m feeling really good after a solid week of training and I’m looking forward to getting the new season started.”
