The Avintia Racing team teammates returned from Austin positive and motivated for the Jerez Grand Prix, hoping to continue their momentum and be able to progress. Unfortunately, everything was more complicated than expected.
Tito Rabat came back happy from Texas, after obtaining another top 10. His feelings were good and he seemed confident for Jerez. However, the weekend in Andalusia did not go very well.
Although fourteenth in combined free practice times, Rabat only qualified in seventeenth, and subsequently had a difficult race. Preferring not to take risks, he finished fourteenth: “The weekend was complicated. I thought it would go better in the race, but it didn't. I didn't get off to a good start, and then I had a weird feeling, which is why I decided to stay where I was. I couldn't go any faster, and it's a shame that it went wrong during the first "home" race. »
Despite this disappointing result, the Spaniard remains tenth in the Championship. It is with this fact in mind that he will go to the French Grand Prix in two weeks: “We will analyze what happened during the test. I can't wait to be there, and especially to turn the page to arrive at Le Mans. »
For his teammate, the weekend was not easy either. Xavier Simeon was however income from Austin very positive, and even hoped to be able to score their first points this weekend. Twenty-fourth and penultimate in free practice, he qualified in the same place due to a grip problem: “The race was very difficult because things got worse. We didn't have the pace we wanted to have. When we made changes to fix the stickiness problem, we only made things worse. »
Taking advantage of the falls in front, the Belgian driver finished seventeenth, but twenty-seven seconds behind his teammate. When he returned to the box, the disappointment was great: “I didn’t benefit at all. At no time was I able to fight to do something good. »
However, he wants to continue to move forward and learn lessons from each Grand Prix: “The positive thing was that I had a steady pace throughout the race and we gained experience. »
