Gosselies, Belgium – 8 September 2015: Tito Rabat and Álex Márquez head to San Marino for round 13 of the Moto2 World Championship this weekend with confidence high, after an impressive performance in the rain at Silverstone last time out.

After an intense battle between the two Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS teammates it was Rabat who stole the final podium position in Great Britain, his seventh of the season, with Márquez crossing the finish line in fourth to equal his best result of 2015.

The winner in Misano 12 months ago, Rabat will be looking to repeat that success this weekend, to reclaim second position in the championship standings from Álex Rins, who currently has a three-point advantage over the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider.

With fourth place in the last two races Márquez has come tantalisingly close to achieving his aim of a podium finish in the second half of the season. The 19-year-old Spaniard heads into the Misano weekend buoyed by his improved form and feeling confident after a successful two-day test at Motorland Aragon last week.

The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli is more stop start in nature than the fast flowing tracks at Brno and Silverstone, with the most demanding section coming towards the end of the lap. The circuit underwent extensive renovation earlier this year, during which the entire track was resurfaced, additional run off was added for safety and some of the corners and kerbs were re-profiled.

Lap records are expected to tumble this weekend as a result of the resurfacing. At the recent MotoGP test, the first since the work was completed, all the riders were inside the existing pole position record.

Tito Rabat:
“My feeling is good going into Misano this weekend. What will be interesting is that we have many new things to test on the bike, mainly with the front and rear suspension, and I’m looking forward to seeing how much of an improvement these changes make. Obviously we go into the weekend with the aim of winning on Sunday, but Moto2 is so competitive now that even the very small things make a big difference on track. Anyway, we will work towards the race like always and I think we will be strong this weekend. The weather looks perfect but, after the good race in Silverstone, I don’t mind if we have some rain.”  

Álex Márquez:
“We head to Misano and the next race well motivated, after two fourth places in Brno and Silverstone, followed by a very successful two-day test at Motorland Aragon last week. We made a few small changes to the bike; nothing major, just refining the set-up we have already to improve how the bike turns in the corner with very positive results. I think the direction we’ve been working in since Indianapolis is the correct one, but we need to continue this work in free practice so that I can improve on my qualifying position. I like the Misano circuit and I was on the podium last year in Moto3, so I think we can come away with another good result this weekend.”