Malaysian Grand Prix Ends In Disaster For Gino Rea
Gino Rea’s outing at the Malaysian Grand Prix was short-lived on Sunday following a crash at Turn 2 on the first lap of the race. Rea made a good start from 21st on the grid and had got a great exit from Turn 1. His forward momentum was so good that he had to brake excessively to avoid hitting the rear of another rider. This action caused his bike to swing violently out of control and he fell from the machine into the path of other riders. When a rider falls in the middle of a tight pack, contact is an unfortunate inevitability. The surrounding riders did well to avoid contact however Gino fell into the path of another machine, having his right foot run over.
The outcome of this incident resulted in Gino suffering breaks to the 3rd, 4th and 5th metatarsal of his right foot. Rea travelled out of Sepang on an earlier flight to seek urgent medical attention as the breaks will require surgery. Gino hopes to be able to compete at Valencia next weekend in the final Grand Prix of the 2014 season.
Keep updated with Gino’s treatment and recovery on the AGT REA Racing Team Facebook www.facebook.com/agtrearacing and Twitter @AGT_REA_Racing.
More, from a press release issued by MotoGP:
Tireless Rabat’s hard work takes him to the top
At the age of 25, Tito Rabat has seen his years of hard work and steady improvement pay off as he took a big step forward in 2014 to become a World Champion
On Sunday the rider from Barcelona clinched his first World title, following up on the success story of his former teammate last year in the Moto2™ class Pol Espargaro. Rabat’s journey to the World Championship glory in the intermediate class has been one of diligent self-improvement since his first appearance in Grand Prix racing in 2005.
Rabat made his debut in Valencia at the end of that 2005 season having been runner up in the Spanish 125cc championship that year. The following season he made further guest appearances at Jerez and Barcelona-Catalunya before getting handed an opportunity in the second half of the 2006 campaign to ride permanently on Honda machinery. He attended 10 Grands Prix that year and registered his first points.
In 2007 he became a full time Repsol Honda 125cc rider and scored his first podium in China in third place. A tall, blonde, lean figure, Tito rode alongside Bradley Smith as he built up his race craft and World Championship experience, missing two races due to a fractured left hand.
In 2008, Rabat rode a KTM, lining up in the same team as a 15 year-old called Marc Marquez. Rabat and Marquez would become good friends, but would they have dared to dream that they would both become World Champions in the future?
In fact Rabat’s 2008 campaign was marked by the serious accident he suffered at the Grand Prix of Catalunya. Rabat hit his head, lost consciousness and remained in an induced coma for a few hours. But he soon returned to the race track.
In 2009 he moved to the Blusens Aprilia team still in 125cc and the following season – 2010 – Rabat made a step forward as he scored two podium results and finished the season sixth in the standings.
That progress saw him recruited for a move up to the intermediate class and in 2011 he became a Blusens-STX Moto2 rider, finishing the year 10th overall – a decent placing in his rookie season in the category. His best result of the season was third place at Indianapolis, as he stepped onto the podium with his friend Marquez and their fellow Spaniard Pol Espargaro.
For the 2012 World Championship Rabat joined the respected Pons 40 HP Tuenti team to ride the Kalex and he would improve to seventh overall in the standings by the end of the year – though with only one podium to his name once more, this time in Japan. Meanwhile, his teammate Pol Espargaro was fighting for the title with Marquez as the latter eventually took the Moto2 crown before moving up to MotoGP™.
Last season it was Espargaro who triumphed in the intermediate category before his own move up to the premier class, whilst Rabat also took a significant step forward riding again on the Pons 40 HP Tuenti Kalex. A more competitive Rabat would emerge, demonstrating his ability with three race wins and seven podiums en route to third in the championship behind Espargaro and Redding.
Before the end of the season he had announced his decision to move to the Marc VDS Racing Team in place of Redding.
That move paid off in style for Rabat this year as he hit the ground running, with two wins in the opening three rounds. He would convert that to four victories in the first seven races, with two further podiums added into the mix.
His main rival this season has been his teammate Mika Kallio but another strong surge in form in the second half of the season brought Rabat three successive wins at Brno, Silverstone and Misano as he pulled away from his Finnish colleague at the head of the standings.
With the 2014 Moto2 World title wrapped up in Malaysia with a third place result, his 13th podium of the season, Rabat is World Champion with a race to spare before the end of the season. He will receive a hero’s welcome at the final round in Valencia. All those hours of training and years of racing have been well worth it.
Rabat has been a deserving champion this season with 10 pole positions and seven race wins to his name in a dominant campaign. Rabat will defend his title with the same team in the same class next year and if he does so he will become the first back-to-back Moto2 World Champion, since the renaming and restructuring of the category in 2010.
Rabat is the seventh Spanish rider to win the intermediate-class World title, joining the following riders on the list: Sito Pons (1988 & 1989), Dani Pedrosa (2004 & 2005), Jorge Lorenzo (2006 & 2007), Toni Elias (2010), Marc Marquez (2012) and Pol Espargaro (2013).
He has already started from pole 10 times in 2014 – a new record for most poles in a single season in the Moto2 class. He is the first rider ever in the Moto2 class to lead championship standings throughout the season.
The only race in 2014 that Rabat has not finished in the top four is the wet race at Assen, when he was eighth.
Biography
Date of birth: 25th May 1989
Place of birth: Barcelona, Spain
First Grand Prix: Valencia 2005, 125cc
First Pole Position: Jerez 2013, Moto2
First Podium: China 2007, 125cc
First Win: Jerez 2013, Moto2
Race starts: 143
Wins: 10
Podiums: 25
Pole Positions: 12
Fast laps: 8
World titles: Moto2™ (2014)
World Championship career:
2005: 125cc – Wild card, Honda, 1 race start, 0 points
2006: 125cc – 23rd position, Honda, 11 race starts, 11 points
2007: 125cc – 10th, Honda, 15 race starts, 74 points
2008: 125cc – 14th, KTM, 16 race starts, 49 points
2009: 125cc – 18th, Aprilia, 16 race starts, 37 points
2010: 125cc – 6th, Aprilia, 17 race starts, 147 points
2011: Moto2 – 10th, FTR, 17 race starts, 79 points
2012: Moto2 – 7th, Kalex, 17 race starts, 114 points
2013: Moto2 – 3rd, Kalex, 16 race starts, 215 points
2014: Moto2 – World Champion, Kalex, 17 race starts, 326 points.
More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing:
Tito Rabat clinches the World Championship with a podium finish in Sepang
Tito Rabat was crowned as the 2014 Moto2 World Champion this afternoon, after finishing on the podium in the Malaysian Moto2 Grand Prix at Sepang.
The 25-year-old Spaniard, who has led the championship since winning the opening race in Qatar back in March, only needed to finish seventh today in Malaysia to clinch the world title, but battled throughout the race with teammate Mika Kallio and eventual winner Maverick Viñales to finish third.
Rabat has dominated the Moto2 World Championship this season, winning seven races and finishing on the podium a further six times. With ten pole positions to his name in 2014 he is also the Moto2 rider with the most number of poles in a single season, a record previously held by Pol Espargaro.
The 2015 season will be the first in which the number one plate has appeared on the Moto2 grid, as Rabat will be the first champion to return and defend his crown, again with the Marc VDS Racing Team.
Mika Kallio stood alongside his Marc VDS teammate on the podium after finishing second today. The 31-year-old Finn may have seen the championship slip away from him this afternoon, but he heads to the final race in Valencia determined to secure second place in the standings, a position he currently hold with a lead of 15 points over Viñales.
Jorge Navarro equalled his best result of the season at Sepang today, bringing his Kalex-KTM home in 12th place to claim four more World Championship points.
Tito Rabat // 3rd // 2014 Moto2 World Champion
“I am so, so happy, but I have no words. In the race today I pushed hard at the start, but at the end I decided to just manage the gap back to the riders behind me, to ensure a podium finish. It has not sunk in yet that I am World Champion, so I have no words, but thank you to the team because they pushed me everyday, they helped me everyday and they were with me every step of the way. Thanks also to Marc van der Straten, without whom this would not have been possible, to my family for their support and to Circuit Almeria for their help in recent years. I want to dedicate this World Championship to my mum, because her memory motivates me to be the best I can every single day.”
Mika Kallio // 2nd
“Firstly, congratulations to Tito on the championship. The key to being champion is to be fast and consistent at every racetrack, and he did that this season. At the beginning of the season we could do the same, but we lost too much ground over the last five or six races, where we had some rear grip issues and a good rhythm was difficult to find. But the season is not over and I want to end the year with a good result at Valencia for a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s important to secure second in the championship, as Maverick is now only 15 points behind me. Secondly, it’s always good to end the season with a win, as it boosts your confidence going into the winter and, probably most importantly, Valencia will be my last race for Marc VDS and I’d like to sign off after four years from the top step of the podium.”
Jorge Navarro // 12th
“Today 12th was good for me, after what was a difficult start to the weekend. We made some changes to the bike for warm up this morning and there was a big improvement, but then I decided to use the soft tyre in the race, which was maybe a mistake on my part. The tyre worked well at the start, but the rear was sliding around a lot towards the end, which knocked my confidence. But I finished the race and four points more is good for us. Now we need to continue improving at Valencia to end the season on a high.”
Michael Bartholemy // Team Principal
“Big congratulations to Tito. He is a deserving World Champion; of that there is no doubt. His hard work and commitment this year has seen him completely dominate the championship he’s led since the opening round in Qatar. Congratulations also to the team, whose commitment has easily matched that of Tito this season. Commiserations to Mika, who saw his teammate crowned champion today, but its unlikely that Tito would have been so dominant this season without a rider of Mika’s calibre to push him all the way every weekend. But Mika’s job isn’t finished yet; he’s been second in the standings all year and that’s how we want to see the season end in Valencia. Finally huge and heartfelt thanks to Marc van der Straten, without whose and support we wouldn’t be celebrating our first World Championship win today. Merci beaucoup, Marc!”
Marc van der Straten // President, Marc VDS Racing Team
“Today is a great day; for me personally, for the team and for Belgium. Seeing Tito Rabat step up to be crowned as the 2014 Moto2 World Champion is a memory that will stay with me. I am very proud of what he and the team have achieved this season. In 2010 we were the newcomers to the Moto2 paddock but our goal was very clear; to win the Moto2 World Championship. We came close in 2013 with Scott Redding, but this year we have dominated, not just with Tito, who is a worthy champion, but also with Mika, whose goal now is to secure second place at Valencia to give us a one-two in the championship, a feat that has not be accomplished by any team in the intermediate class since 2000. Well done Tito and well done team!”
More, from a press release issued by AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing:
Zarco claims fourth place at Sepang
Circuit: Sepang Circuit
Circuit Length: 5.543 km
Race Length: 19 laps
Weather
Race: Dry; (air temp) 34° C, (track temp) 55° C
AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing rider Johann Zarco finished fourth in the Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix, securing sixth place in the Championship overall, whilst unfortunate luck saw teammate Ratthapark Wilairot crash out due to a technical problem.
Starting from eighth position on the grid Zarco kept his cool in the intense heat, building his pace throughout the race and working his way up the field in the process. Feeling more comfortable on the bike, the Frenchman showed determination and strength as he closed in on Aegerter in front, battling with the Swiss rider on the last lap and claiming fourth across the finish line.
Following an impressive morning warm up, teammate Ratthapark Wilairot was in good form for the nineteen-lap race. Despite having all the work to do starting from 33rd on the grid, the Thai rider stormed through the field to gain ten places on lap one. Pushing hard Wilairot looked set to score his crew their first points of the season, when a technical problem with the #14 Caterham Suter caused him to crash out of the Grand Prix.
#5 Johann Zarco: P4
“I am very happy for the race. I started in eighth position and I finished fourth. It was a good start but I missed corner four and from sixth I went to ninth position. It was not easy to overtake so I took ten laps to get the pace and find the place to overtake riders. Finally it was eight laps to go and I was fifth. I needed to catch Aegerter in fourth position and I could do it on the last lap and then we had a great battle. We had three overtakes in the last lap and then in the end I won the battle. I’m very happy for this. The pace was quite good, it’s just a shame that I missed these first ten laps, but we know that in Malaysia conditions are always very difficult, so I’m pleased I could stay constant and enjoy the race.”
#14 Ratthapark Wilairot: DNF
“After this morning’s warm up I was feeing very good on the bike and I was confident we could get some points for sure. I made a good start in the first lap and we gained a lot of positions. I pushed from the start to get the pace and fight with the group. I was up I think to P19 when the bike started to feel different. I looked at the temperature on the bike and it was like 107-110 degrees all the time and it just wouldn’t go. Then when I shifted down the gear the engine sounded like it stopped and then the rear came to the front and I lost the front into the last corner. It’s very disappointing. We very nearly had a good weekend, but finally not. We still have a good set up, I’m happy with the bike and we have one more chance, so we must try again.”
Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager: “It was a tough race today and like normal it was very hot. I think Zarco did a great race and he didn’t give up. He was fighting all the way through and he was catching Aegerter and then in the end of the race he overtook him in the last corner for fourth. This is a big plus because we secure our sixth position in the Championship and 3rd place in the Constructors Championship, which is very good. Johann was maybe a bit slow at the start and we lost too much ground in the first five laps, but he had a little bit of a problem in corner four he said. Overall to be fourth here today in these conditions and having looked strong all the weekend again is a big reward and I’m happy for this.
“Ratthapark didn’t have an easy job starting from 33rd on the grid but he did a great start and could overtake many riders on the first lap and then he was in the group from basically eleventh position down to his position and he was up to eighteenth, nineteenth. He was hanging in there but he had an issue with his bike and basically it locked up into the last corner forcing him to crash out. That was of course not what we hoped for and I think he could have actually been in the points today. It’s not easy but he was there, definitely there today to score points, so I’m really sad for him. We have one chance left and we will try to do the best we can in Valencia.”
More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team
Anthony West close to the points after strong fight – Roman Ramos battles through toughest race ever
In a display of true fighting spirit, QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West battled his way from almost last at the Malaysian Grand Prix to 18th place at the chequered flag. Down in 29th place after a hectic first lap, the 33-year-old Australian grit his teeth and started to make up positions despite increasing problems with tyre grip in the intense afternoon heat on the Sepang circuit. On lap six, he passed his team-mate Roman Ramos to take 24th place, by mid-race he reached the top 20 and moved up past Belgian top-rider Xavier Simeon into 18th place with four laps to go. But even though he pulled away from Simeon by more than a second per lap, the next rider in front of West was already too far gone and he had to settle for his position.
Roman Ramos showed similar determination to leave the tail end of the field behind. With a better start than West, he gained some positions straight away and was 27th after one lap. He stayed ahead of West on his way to 25th after three and 24th place after four laps and managed to cling to his team-mate until the tenth lap. In the second half of the race, he also started to suffer from increasing problems with tyre grip, especially on the front. He managed to finish what he called the “toughest race of my life”, but wasn’t able to gain any more positions.
Anthony West – 18th place
“My start was okay, sort of medium, but when I went into the first turn, I got bogged between many other riders and in turn two, there was the crash of Gino Rea, which also slowed me down. I lost a bit of drive and I also lost some more positions on this first lap, when I was trying to pass a rider and got pushed wide. Then I had a battle with Ramos for a while. When he passed me on the inside, I almost crashed, so it was quite hard to catch up. He was pushing really hard. We were both on the limit with the bike, we were as fast as we could go with the bike. When it gets hot like that, the bike tends to lose grip. We went back to the setting we had yesterday morning, which worked quite well, but in this temperature, there was a noticeable drop of grip. I feel like we struggle more than other bikes with high temperatures. In the first laps, my engine temperature rose to over 100 degrees, so it was a bit slow. When I got in front of the guys and I had some fresh air, the engine cooled down a bit. But it continued to be a difficult race!”
Roman Ramos – 22nd place
“This would have been the toughest race of my life, with a distance! On the first laps, things went quite well, I was able to push and gain a few positions. Later, I lost confidence in the front of the bike, because the front folded away under me a few times and I was really close to crashing. In the warm-up session this morning, the bike worked much, much better. I don’t know what happened, it must have been the intense heat on the track. Whatever the reason, I suffered a lot and I didn’t come even close to riding as fast as I did this morning. I was a second slower, but there was no way to go faster. The last laps were especially tough and I couldn’t fight for a decent position. The season is coming to an end soon, but I still hope for the good result that we deserve and need!”