Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Tito Rabat bravely recovered from an early crash to finish 17th at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli today. 

Although five laps behind because of a pit stop for repairs to his Honda RC213V Rabat was running the pace of the top 12 at the end of the 28-lap race.

After a strong start from 18th on the grid Rabat crashed on lap two and lost valuable time as his pit crew made quick repairs to the broken foot peg on his bike.

On rejoining the race, run in blazing hot conditions, Rabat settled into a smooth rhythm with the group of Danilo Petrucci and Stefan Bradl who finished 11th and 12th respectively.

Rabat was the lone starter in the 13th round of the MotoGP World Championship for Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS. After qualifying for the race Jack Miller did not start. Miller was forced to withdraw from the San Marino GP on race morning.

Throughout practice and qualifying the physically demanding nature of the Misano circuit caused him a lot of problems with the right hand he injured in a warm up crash at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Australian informed the team this morning that he was not fit to ride. The team respected his decision and will now monitor closely his recovery.

Only once the full extent of the injury is known, as well as the expected recovery time, will a decision be made as to when Miller will return to action.
 
Tito Rabat: 17th
“I made a very good first lap but then made a mistake. I braked too hard, lost the front and could not save it. The foot pegs were broken so thanks to the team for quickly fixing this problem. I re-joined and settled into a good rhythm in the group with Petrucci and Bradl who finished in the top twelve and I learnt a lot of things riding with these guys. Now I will focus on the next race at Aragon.”  

Jack Miller:  DNS
“Misano is a much more physically demanding track to ride than Silverstone and my right hand has been getting worse each day. Every time I got off the bike the swelling was more. It's not painful, but I was lacking power in the hand and you need to have that here for the hard braking areas. I thought long and hard about it last night, but it simply wasn't safe for me to ride a 28-lap race with this problem. Now I am focussed only on recovery and getting back on the bike as soon as I am fully fit again.”  

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“It is never easy when only one rider starts the race because all the focus is on him, in this case Tito who unfortunately had a crash on the second lap.  He made a pit stop and then re-joined the race and had a good pace that matched that of 12th position so for sure the crash cost us a nice result today. With Jack we now just have to wait and see for his recovery and when he returns, it has been a hectic four weeks for him with injuries and missed races.”