Rabat leads the way at Aragón

Rabat leads the way at Aragón

Aragón, Spain – 26 September 2014: Moto2 World Championship leader Tito Rabat posted the fastest lap on the opening day at Aragón, with his Marc VDS teammate Mika Kallio finishing free practice just two places further back in third.

Rabat, fourth in the first free practice this morning, wasted no time stamping his authority on proceedings this afternoon. The 25-year-old Spaniard moved to the top of the timesheet after just 10 minutes and was never headed as he continued to improve upon his own time, eventually dipping under the lap record at the end of the session.

Mika Kallio endured a difficult opening free practice this morning, crashing at turn one in the first few minutes and then struggling with a lack of feedback from the front for the remainder of the 40-minute session. Set up changes for this afternoon’s second free practice brought a significant improvement, allowing Kallio to jump back up the timesheet to finish the day in third.

Jorge Navarro ended the opening day at Aragón in 20th position, after missing most of this afternoon’s second Moto3 free practice following a crash early in the session. The 18-year-old Spaniard, who was tenth in morning practice, only had time to complete seven laps this afternoon, although he did improve on his previous best time by more than half a second. Navarro is confident of further improvement ahead of qualifying tomorrow.

Tito Rabat // 1st // 1’53.838
“We made a good job today, but we still need to find some small improvements with the bike for tomorrow. I also need to practice for the start, the opening few laps of the race and to try and find a better rhythm in the final free practice session. We have to keep our focus right through tomorrow and into qualifying, as it’s very close at the top of the timesheet.”

Mika Kallio // 3rd // 1’54.145
“This morning was strange because the bike felt totally different compared to previous races and I had no confidence at all in the front. Then I crashed on what we think was oil in turn one, which lost us some time, but I never really found a good feeling in the first session. We made some changes for this afternoon and there was a big improvement. To make up for the lost time I did a long first run, after which we switched to the new specification front tyre for the last ten minutes. The feeling was different; I’m not really sure if it was better or worse, but I was happy with the lap time, especially as it was done on a rear tyre that had already done race distance. If we can make another small improvement with the front for tomorrow then everything should be good for qualifying.”

Jorge Navarro // 20th // 2’00.242
“This morning the feeling with the bike was good and then we made some changes to the bike for the second session which gave some more improvement. I was on a quick lap early in the practice when I came across two riders in front of me. I managed to pass one, but the other turned in to the corner in front of me. I had nowhere to go and clipped his rear wheel. The team did a good job getting me back out for the last few minutes and I managed to get four laps to rebuild my confidence. The bike is working well, so I’m confident I can improve my position in the final free practice and qualifying tomorrow.”