Tito Rabat extends championship lead with victory at Misano

Tito Rabat extended his lead in the Moto2 World Championship standings to 22 points, with his seventh win of the season at Misano this afternoon. Mika Kallio gave the Marc VDS Racing Team their third successive, and fourth of the season, one-two finish by coming home a safe second.

Starting from pole position, Kallio had a lead of over a second at the end of the first lap, with the pursuing pack being hauled along in the slipstream of his Marc VDS teammate, Rabat.

The 25-year-old Spaniard eventually managed to shake off his rivals and then, in a carbon copy of the Silverstone race, started to close the gap to the race leader. With Kallio struggling with a drop off in grip from the rear tyre, Rabat eventually caught and passed the Finn with just nine laps to go.

As soon as he was ahead, Rabat got his head down and managed to pull away to take the win, with Kallio trailing him across the line just over two seconds later.

The Misano win means Rabat becomes only the third rider in the history of the Moto2 class to win three races in succession, the other two being former Moto2 World Champion Toni Elias and reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez.

Tito Rabat // Race Winner
“I’m happy to leave here with a win, because it hasn’t been an easy weekend. The rain on Friday lost us time and it was difficult to find a good dry setting for the bike in only two sessions on Saturday, but the team did a great job. I got a good start in the race, but not as good as Mika. He was away like thunder and his first few laps were unbelievable. But I managed to hold then close the gap, but very slowly. It was hard, not just physically but psychologically too, as it’s difficult to maintain focus when you’re on your own. Once I caught him I had a quick breather, before passing him when he made a mistake into turn four. Then I pushed until the end, as he did too, but I managed to pull away for the win. We did a good job this weekend, but it’s a long way until Valencia, so we need to keep focussed and keep working.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing