Montmeló, Spain – 13 June 2015: Reigning World Champion Tito Rabat secured a sixth front row start of the season aboard his Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex machine, after the Moto2 field delivered yet another record-breaking qualifying session in Barcelona this afternoon.

Rabat brilliantly brushed aside niggling technical issues that have hampered his preparations to lap under the 2012 pole position record held by Marc Marquez. And his stunning best lap of 1.46.123 was only 0.228s away from securing the Spaniard a 15th career pole position.

Rabat will start tomorrow’s 23-lap race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from third position confident that he can take a second successive win of 2015 to close the 31-point deficit to pole man Johann Zarco.

Álex Márquez will start his home race from 12th position after equalling his best qualifying performance of his rookie season in Moto2 in the hottest conditions of the day in Spain today.

The 19-year-old was just over 0.2s away from a top six result and his best lap of 1.46.686 was less than 0.1s outside of the race lap record currently held by Thomas Lüthi.

Tito Rabat: 3rd – 1’46.123
“It would have been great to get pole position for my home race but it certainly wasn’t through a lack of trying. The lap times at the front are incredibly fast again, so I can’t be disappointed to be on the front row. I have a really good feeling with the bike but I know we can improve to make me faster. I’ve got great support this weekend and I will be giving my maximum to fight for the win.”

Álex Márquez: 12th – 1’46.686
“I equalled my best Moto2 qualifying and I am not far away from the front group, but honestly I’m not really satisfied with the session because I am sure we could have done more. We made a mistake with the tyre strategy but the big positive is that I have really good race pace. The support from the home fans is incredible and I am really motivated to do a good job for them and my team.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
 “I am happy that Tito was able to qualify on the front row because it has not been a problem free weekend. We’ve had a suspension problem yesterday and this morning we had an issue with a flat tyre, so it has not been easy for Tito to establish a good rhythm like the last three races. So for him to keep his focus and come close to pole position shows we can be strong in the race because he did his best time without a slipstream. I am pleased with Álex too. He has been close to the top 10 in every session but a fourth row start means he can try and go away with the lead group and gain a lot of experience tomorrow.”