Tito Rabat makes a fast start at Valencia

The Marc VDS Racing Team’s Tito Rabat made an impressive start to his reign as new Moto2 World Champion with a top three finish at the end of the opening day of practice for the season’s final race in Valencia.

Spaniard Rabat, who claimed the Moto2 title with a 13th podium of the season in Sepang, set a personal best lap of 1.35.604 on a day he spent focusing on improving corner entry performance with his Kalex machine.

Rabat was only 0.340s off the best pace set by Johann Zarco and one place ahead of teammate Mika Kallio, who is looking to secure a 1-2 finish in the overall standings for Marc VDS Racing on Sunday to cap a dominant campaign from the Belgium-based squad.

Tito Rabat // 3rd // 1’35.604
“Today felt very special as it was my first time on track since winning the World Championship in Malaysia. It was not an easy day because this morning I didn’t have the best grip with the hard tyres. I was better with the softer options this afternoon but I never have a good feeling with this track. It is very slow and tight but I could go fast in FP2 and finish in the top three. We need to work to get more entry grip because it doesn’t seem like we have as much grip as last year. But I am confident I can fight for the win on Sunday.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing