After starting Friday discreetly by ranking seventeenth in the first Argentine free practice session, Rabat greatly impressed in the afternoon by setting the fourth fastest time of the day.
Not only was the place beautiful, but what's more, it was prestigious because the only three bikes that managed to beat him were the three factory Hondas from Marc Marquez, Cal Crutchlow and Dani Pedrosa. This had an interesting side because Tito had just left one of these RC213Vs whose qualities he did not appreciate in his previous team Marc VDS.
The weather was favorable on Saturday morning and due to the wet track Tito was able to maintain his direct qualification for Q2. The most difficult part remained to be done, with a track with random grip, very wet in places and almost completely dry in others.
Some decided to try their luck on slick tires, but only the Australian Jack Miller brilliantly succeeds in getting out of this trap. Tito preferred wet tires, like the vast majority of drivers, and finished magnificently fourth.
This result was all the more brilliant as Rabat positioned his Desmosedici Avintia GP17 second in the Ducati, ahead of the three official GP18s of Andrea Dovizioso, Jorge Lorenzo and Danilo Petrucci.
This fourth position is by far the best he has ever achieved on a grid, the previous one being tenth place in MotoGP. Previously, he had achieved 16 pole positions in Moto2 for 13 victories. His best race result in MotoGP so far has been ninth.
According to Tito Rabat, « We started the day very well and managed to have optimal paces, as well as a good fast lap.
“In the first practice session the track was a bit dirty, but in the afternoon, in the second, the track was almost perfect. I'm very happy with the day, with the Ducati and the team.
“Now we have to focus on the race, to get a good result and go as high as possible on Sunday. During the Grand Prix, which is the most important, we must concentrate on the smooth running of the event. You have to work on the life of the tire and go a little faster. »
Qualification results:
1 43 Jack MILLER AUS Alma Pramac Racing DUCATI Q2 1'47.153 8 8 318.5
2 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA Q2 1'47.330 6 7 0.177 0.177 309.9
3 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA Q2 1'47.365 6 7 0.212 0.035 314.7
4 53 Tito RABAT SPA Reale Avintia Racing DUCATI Q2 1'47.681 6 7 0.528 0.316 312.3
5 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI Q2 1'47.743 6 8 0.590 0.062 309.7
6 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA Q2 1'47.754 7 7 0.601 0.011 314.4
7 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA Q2 1'47.845 7 8 0.692 0.091 316.7
8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team DUCATI Q2 1'48.247 5 6 1.094 0.402 312.9
9 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA Q2 1'49.044 8 8 1.891 0.797 314.0
10 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL HONDA Q2 1'49.304 7 7 2.151 0.260 316.7
11 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA Q2 1'49.326 8 8 2.173 0.022 310.1
12 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI Q2 1'49.975 6 7 2.822 0.649 309.1
13 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Angel Nieto Team DUCATI Q1 1'49.878 8 8 (*) 0.750 311.5
14 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team DUCATI Q1 1'50.063 6 7 (*) 0.935 0.185 318.1
15 45 Scott REDDING GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA Q1 1'50.175 6 7 (*) 1.047 0.112 312.5
16 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM Q1 1'50.324 7 7 (*) 1.196 0.149 308.9
17 10 Xavier SIMEON BEL Reale Avintia Racing DUCATI Q1 1'50.364 7 7 (*) 1.236 0.040 313.4
18 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Alma Pramac Racing DUCATI Q1 1'50.449 6 8 (*) 1.321 0.085 318.5
19 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Angel Nieto Team DUCATI Q1 1'50.606 8 8 (*) 1.478 0.157 313.9
20 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI EG 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA Q1 1'50.833 7 7 (*) 1.705 0.227 307.7
21 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM Q1 1'51.007 8 8 (*) 1.879 0.174 310.3
22 21 Franco MORBIDELLI ITA EG 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA Q1 1'51.012 8 8 (*) 1.884 0.005 305.7
23 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN MAL Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA Q1 1'51.142 8 8 (*) 2.014 0.130 307.0
24 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU HONDA Q1 1'51.387 8 8 (*) 2.259 0.245 312.4
Reference times:
Test record: 1'37.683 by Marc Marquez (Honda) in 2014
Lap record: 1'39.019 by Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) in 2015
Best top speed: 334,4 km/h for Hector Barbera (Avintia Ducati) in 2017
Provisional classification of the MotoGP World Championship:
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 25 points
2 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 20
3 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 16
4 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 13
5 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 11
6 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 10
7 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 9
8 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 8
9 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 7
10 Jack MILLER-Ducati 6
11 Tito RABAT-Ducati 5
12 Franco MORBIDELLI-Honda 4
13 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 3
14 Hafizh SYAHRIN-Yamaha 2
15 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 1
Photos © Avintia
