After the second third of the season, Loris occupies fifteenth place in the World Championship (out of 23 drivers), 4 points behind Aleix Espargaro and Jack Miller, and 6 ahead of Andrea Iannone, with ninth place in Argentina as best qualification and as best race results eighth place in Assen and ninth in France and Austria. What is his overall assessment?
“I'm happy because it's a good season overall. It could sometimes have gone better, but I am satisfied with my first half of the season, even if my arm still handicapped me in certain races. But we saw that we had good potential. We obtained more or less what we had set as our target results. But it's not easy because there are more and more official motorcycles. We are working calmly and for the moment we have succeeded quite well. We have made further progress at the start of the second part of the season. So it's encouraging because we keep the same bike from the start to the end of the year, while the other machines continue to progress. It proves that it doesn't work that badly and that there are ways to do good things with it.
How do you see the remaining six Grands Prix, including the Japan-Australia-Malaysia tour?
“Some circuits should suit us a little better than others with this bike. Japan, which didn't really suit me the first two years I went there, should suit my bike. Australia is my favorite track and I always have a lot of fun there. Sepang is a circuit where we drive a lot in winter and where we go pretty fast. It should go well. We will try to finish the year as it has gone so far, to score points each time and to get into the top ten as often as possible. And why not try to pick up a few drivers ahead in the standings?
You said that your ninth place in Austria rewarded your best race in MotoGP. Yet you finished fourth in Brno last year. Why do you prefer this year's Austrian race?
“Because the Austrian race took place 100% in the dry. There was no fall in front, nor any event that helped me gain places. We drove fast from start to finish. I only finished 18 seconds behind the first. For me, it's the best race I've done.
This year the title is extremely competitive. Who do you see as World Champion?
“At the start of the year, I was the first to bet on Maverick Vinales. For a few races, I have seen Andrea Dovizioso very strongly. Marc Marquez is back on level terms. It’s going to be a great end to the season. Right now I see Dovi as the favorite. He clicked with his first victory this year and he is working very well on this new bike.
Knowing that at Avintia for the moment only one motorcycle is allocated for 2018, for Tito Rabat, how do you see next year?
" I do not know. We do everything to stay in this team. The idea is to stay in this place, with a GP17 next year, why not? Eric Mahé works a lot on this. There is nothing to gain because there are a lot of drivers on the list. Sports results are not the only thing that tips the scales. I hope we will know more in Misano or Aragon and that we will be settled. I'm doing my best on the track to keep my place at Avintia. I hope that will be enough.
If fate meant that you couldn't continue in MotoGP, would you prefer to go to World Superbike, endurance, British Superbike or another Championship?
“Logically, the No. 1 option would be to return to Superbike. It remains a World Speed Championship with an excellent level as I have always said. Unfortunately few bikes are capable of winning. But the regulations should change within one to two years. This would be option #1. I've already had some great races there and gotten good results, so why not? But I avoid thinking about it too much at the moment. I'm trying to tell myself that I'm going to stay in MotoGP, and we'll see afterwards. »
Photos © Reale Avintia Racing
