Tito Rabat extends championship lead with Motegi podium

Tito Rabat extended his championship lead to 38 points over his Marc VDS teammate Mika Kallio, with a hard fought third place in the Japanese Moto2 Grand Prix at Motegi.

Rabat and teammate Kallio were involved in a titanic battle with Johan Zarco and Maverick Viñales for third place in the opening stages of today’s race, which allowed eventual race winner Tom Lüthi to build up an unassailable lead at the front.

Rabat managed to battle his way through into third, as rear grip problems saw Kallio unable to match the pace of this teammate, with the Finn eventually dropping back to be caught and passed by Zarco for fourth at two-thirds race distance.

Rabat set his fastest laps of the race as he tried to chase down Viñales for second, but his compatriot had too much in hand today and the Marc VDS rider was forced to settle for third and the increasingly important championship points at the chequered flag.

Tito Rabat // 3rd
“Today was a little bit difficult for me. My start wasn’t so good and the first lap was a bit of a disaster. Afterwards I was putting in some good lap times and, when I got through into third, I tried to follow Viñales, but without taking too many risks. But this was impossible; I started to enter into the corners so early, tried to brake so late and was a little bit slow exiting the corners. This sometimes happens when you have the pressure of the championship. At the end, I’m happy because I rode an intelligent race to get onto the podium, but I’m not happy about the last part of the race. We will go to Australia now and we will start there like we did here on Friday.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing