Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Tito Rabat will start 20th on the grid for Sunday's 11th round of the MotoGP World Championship. 

The 27-year-old Spanish rider posted a best lap of 1'57.606, his fastest so far over two days of practice and qualifying.

But the fast, undulating and technical 5.4 km Brno layout, one of the classic circuits on the MotoGP calendar, proved to be a difficult test for Rabat in his rookie season aboard the Honda RC213V. 

On a sunny and warm day Rabat could not repeat the positive steps he made at last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix and struggled to build his confidence for a faster time. 

Despite a maximum effort from both the rider and his team Rabat could not unlock the secrets to fast and comfortable lap times to capitalise on his strong showing in Austria. 

Rabat will be the sole representative for Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS in the 22 lap Czech Republic Grand Prix, with his teammate Jack Miller sidelined with back and wrist injuries. 

Tito Rabat:  20th – 1'57.606 
“There are not many positive things to say other than it is my first time here on a MotoGP bike and it is a difficult track on which to get the maximum from the Honda RC213V.  I am very disappointed with how the weekend has gone so far, I didn't expect this and I'm not sure why it's happening like this.  I  have taken a lot of advice from many people to improve and now I need to find my own way to be faster.  I'm getting a lot of support from the team which is great and now I want to focus on the race and try to score some points, tomorrow is another day.  This track is very difficult and I don't understand many things and even though I tried 200% I could not be faster.” 

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“Even though we are making small steps our rivals are making bigger steps and moving ahead so this qualifying position is not where we should be. Given Tito's strong qualifying performance in Austria this is disappointing both for him and the team but we are working with him for the race to put him in a position to fight for some points. And it has not been easy with Tito being our only rider this weekend with Jack Miller out injured because we are missing lot of data and information from Jack that would normally help the whole team. But everyone is behind Tito and looking for answers, including the guys from Jack's side of the garage.”