Tito Rabat heads to Valencia to get his 2014 campaign underway

Tito Rabat (his test bike shown above, all ready to be packed off to the test) and the Marc VDS Racing Team will get their 2014 campaign underway at Valencia on Tuesday 11th February, with the first of three pre-season tests for the Moto2 and Moto3 classes. Tito – like fellow Marc VDS riders Mika Kallio (Moto2) and Livio Loi (in Moto3) is raring to go after the three-month winter break.

Rabat has kept himself sharp by racing on both two wheels and four over the winter break. The 24-year-old Spaniard contested the GSeries BPA race alongside Bradley Smith in Andorra, as well as finishing second behind Brad ‘The Bullet’ Baker in the Superfinal at the Superprestigio Dirt Track event in Barcelona. Rabat finished third in the Moto2 World Championship in 2013 and, with the two riders above him moving up to MotoGP, will start the season as one of the title favourites.

Tito Rabat:
“I kept myself busy over the winter, with motocross, dirt track and even a car race on ice up in Andorra, but I also took some time out to relax after a busy season. The car racing was fun; you had to be really smooth on the ice. The dirt track racing was also fun, but very different. It’s a really explosive sport, with lots of sliding and contact; you’re at the maximum from the start to the finish. I enjoyed it a lot. Now it’s time to get back into the rhythm of the season and I’m looking forward to working with the guys in my crew again. The aim in testing is to ensure we have the most competitive package for the first race in Qatar, not to try to win testing with the fastest lap, but if we get the set up right then we know the the lap times will come.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“With Tito finishing third and Mika fourth in the Championship last year, both riders go into the new season with the weight of expectation on their shoulders. But this expectation hasn’t changed their approach and it hasn’t changed that of the team, either. We head to the first two tests in Spain with clear goals, as well as a determination not to get drawn into the battle for bragging rights that a fast lap brings. We need to be fast from the first race onwards and so we will use testing as it was intended, to ensure that we arrive in Qatar with the most competitive package.”

Source & photo: Marc VDS Racing