Brno, Czech Republic – 17 August 2014: Moto2 World Championship leader Tito Rabat’s perfect weekend at Brno was capped with a dominant win in today’s Grand Prix of the Czech Republic.

The 25-year-old Spaniard secured his seventh pole of the season on Saturday with a new outright circuit record and then posted a new lap record on the way to his fifth win of the season today.

Mika Kallio made it a Marc VDS one-two on the podium, after overcoming technical issues encountered during practice and qualifying to take second place behind his Marc VDS teammate.

Jorge Navarro’s race ended in the gravel trap at the first turn after just one lap, when he was hit from behind by John McPhee. Starting from 19th on the grid, Navarro fought his way through the field on the opening lap, before passing Romano Fenati and McPhee on the main straight to move up to 11th position. As McPhee tried to retake the position, he hit the back of Navarro’s Kalex-KTM causing both riders to crash.

Tito Rabat // Race Winner
“I’m very happy to be back on the top step of the podium here in Brno. I think together me and the team have done a good job, finding a solution to every problem encountered and improving the bike in every session. The win today was also an important one for me, as the last three races didn’t really go in my favour, so it’s good to get back to winning again. Now I will enjoy today, but tomorrow we start to work again so that we’re ready for the next race at Silverstone.”

Mika Kallio // 2nd
“The day didn’t start so well with the crash in warm up, but we then decided to gamble on going back to last years settings on the front, which is something we hadn’t tried this weekend. I could tell immediately on the warm up lap that it was the right decision, as the feeling with the front that is so important for me was much better. I knew Tito was going to attack from the start, so I pushed hard to get into a position to chase him, but he’d already pulled out a gap at the front by the time I was through into second. I tried to close the gap but it was pretty obvious that, barring a mistake, I wasn’t going to catch him. At half race distance I decided to play it safe and take the all-important points for second and, given the issues this weekend, I think we can be satisfied with that.”

Jorge Navarro // DNF
“I am very sad, because this is not how I wanted to finish the race today. My objective here was to get more experience on the bike and try to be in the first group. I think we have done a good job all weekend. We have improved my lap times and, most importantly, my feeling with the bike in every session. In the race I felt good, made up eight places on the opening lap and felt confident about reaching the first group. At the start of the second lap I passed Fenati and McPhee on the straight, giving me the inside line at turn one, but then I was hit from behind and crashed. It’s a disappointing end to what looked to be a promising weekend, but now we need to put it behind us and focus on the next race at Silverstone.” 

Michael Bartholemy // Team Principal
“Tito was determined to regain the upper hand in the championship this weekend and I don’t think he could have done it more emphatically. Two new circuit records, his seventh pole of the season and a dominant win today has sent a clear message to everyone – especially Mika – that he’s prepared to fight for this title. Mika also rode a superb race after a difficult couple of days and two crashes here in Brno and I’m sure he’ll be looking to turn the tables on his teammate in two weeks time at Silverstone. I know Jorge is disappointed to have crashed out of the race today, but his progress once again has been impressive. He improves every time he gets on the bike and in the race he’d gone from 19th to 11th in just one lap, before being hit and crashing out of the race. I’m happy with his approach and his style; we’re here for racing, not dancing.”