Montmeló, Spain – 14 June 2015: Tito Rabat had to settle for third place at today's Catalan Grand Prix, after a thrilling battle with Johann Zarco and Alex Rins. Rabat led for the majority of the 23-lap race but a costly error on the last lap left him having to settle for 16 points.

This result marked the fourth consecutive podium finish for the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider and offered another indication of how strongly Rabat is riding, as he looks to defend his crown.

Álex Márquez finished 11th but his pace was similar to the race leaders as he fought back through the field having been hit by another rider on the opening lap, which he finished in 28th position. The reigning Moto3 world champion was into the points just five laps later and was able to set consistently fast times as he continues to adapt to the intermediate class.

At the chequered flag he was just three tenths shy of a top ten finish but having shown such promise throughout the weekend this was another important step for Márquez, who can now look forward to the next round of the championship at Assen.

Tito Rabat: 3rd
“I made a good start and pushed as hard as I could for the whole race, because I knew how close the chasing pack were. I had a good rhythm and was comfortable at the front, but I ran wide on the last lap allowing both Zarco and Rins past me. There wasn’t enough of the lap left to mount a counterattack, so I had to settle for third. Overall I’m pretty happy with the work we did this weekend and now I’m looking forward to Assen.”

Álex Márquez: 11th
“We had a lot of problems on the first lap because somebody hit me from the rear and I lost a lot of positions. After that I tried to improve and make a good rhythm and my pace was then similar to the front riders, in some laps faster, so I'm happy. We need to make some improvements for the future but I'm pleased with this weekend because we did so well in every session. I'm a bit disappointed because I think that we could have fought with the top riders for a podium today, but that's racing and sometimes you have good luck and sometimes you have bad luck. In Assen I'll try and change this! I won there last year and it's a really good track for me so we need to try and work as well there as we did here in Barcelona.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“It's always disappointing to lose the race on the last lap, but good to finish on the podium. It was a difficult weekend for Tito and I wasn't sure if he could lead like this but in the end Moto2 is always tight and these kinds of things can happen. I'm very pleased with Álex’s performance because when you see the lap times that he was doing it was impressive. After his crash he dropped back to 28th position so to come back and finish 11th while setting the same lap times as the leaders was a job well done.”