Jerez, Spain – 3 May 2015: Tito Rabat finished on the podium for the first time this season with a hard fought third place in today’s Spanish Moto2 Grand Prix at Jerez. Alex Marquez also secured his best result of the season to date, crossing the finish line in ninth position.

Rabat made a lightning start to lead the field into the first corner, quickly pulling away from the majority of his rivals. Only Jonas Folger was able to match the early pace of the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider, with the German eventually pushing past to take the lead with 17 laps to go.

Rabat stalked Folger for the remainder of the race, but with both front and rear grip starting to drop off he was unable to mount a challenge for the win. The reigning Moto2 World Champion looked set to finish a safe second, but was pushed wide at the final turn when Alex Rins got in too hot and crashed into the side of Rabat’s bike, allowing Zarco through. 

Alex Marquez went into today’s race looking for a top ten finish from 17th on the grid and the reigning Moto3 World Champion achieved his aim, battling through the field to claim his best result of the season in ninth.

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS go straight from Jerez to Aragon, where Rabat and Marquez will participate in a two-day test on Wednesday and Thursday, before heading to Le Mans for round five of the 2015 Moto2 World Championship.

Tito Rabat: 3rd
“The start was good and I was able to pull away from all but Folger, but towards the middle of the race the grip from the front and the rear started to drop off and it wasn’t possible to follow him. I knew that Rins and Zarco were closing on the final lap, so I was ready to defend my position, but I got pushed out wide when Rins crashed into me at the final turn and I wasn’t able to get on the gas early enough to hold off Zarco for second. I’m happy enough; it’s my first podium this season and we’ve made a good step with the bike, for which I thank the team, but we need to work more now to improve the bike from midrace distance on.”

Alex Marquez: 9th
“I’m happy because we made a significant step forward with the bike today, which meant I was able to get my first top ten finish in Moto2. We need to improve in qualifying, as you lose a lot of time passing riders when you start from 17th on the grid like today, but my rhythm was good, as was my confidence in the bike. Now we will go to Aragon to test and to understand where we are with the bike and, hopefully, make another step ahead of the next race in Le Mans.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“I’m happy to see Tito back at the front of the race and it shows that the improvements we have made to the bike are working. We still need to work hard to improve the performance from the middle to the end of the race, but our first podium of the season is all the motivation we need to do that. I’m also happy to see Alex finish inside the top ten for the first time, especially as he looked much more confident and comfortable on the bike today.”