Due to the health crisis, we are no longer in the paddock. In fact, to date, no journalists are authorized to enter the Grand Prix paddock and those who travel to the events are strictly confined to the press room. Gone, therefore, are the days when after the day of driving, we saw all the journalists running from one hotel to another to collect the pilots' debriefings.
Today, everything happens remotely by videoconference, generally by Zoom, but don't think that it's any easier, the debriefing program sometimes presents two or three pilots simultaneously, not to mention delays or changes of last minute.
As announced at the start of the year, on Paddock-GP we favor above all the two French drivers Johann zarco et fabio quartararo and try to attend all their debriefings before reporting them in full, but we also strive to observe the season of Valentino Rossi at Petronas. Then, depending on the news, we also record Pierre, Paul or Jacques, knowing that all of this will have to be transcribed in the minutes and hours that follow, since journalists are prohibited from putting the audio online. recorded…
In Jerez, Sunday evening, seized by a sudden desire for exoticism, we nevertheless "went" to the debriefing ofEsteve Rabat who replaced Jorge Martin hurt. And we were not disappointed !
At the end of a race finished in 18th position, smiling but somewhat overexcited and disordered, “Tito” launched into the following debriefing.
“To be honest, we were very lucky that the whole weekend was sunny and in good conditions, because it is difficult to go back and understand all these things in one weekend, as well as the changes in weather conditions. temperatures from morning to afternoon. I didn't get off to a good start because I didn't activate the launch control: too many buttons and not enough time to do it! So in the end, OK, I didn't put it on properly and just took off. It was a bit of a mess but… a second, a second! »
On that, Esteve Rabat leaves the six unfortunate journalists present to say goodbye to guests in the lurch. Then he comes back and continues.
“Where was I? »
A journalist then directs him with the following question: “did the race meet your expectations?” »
Tito Rabat : “Yes, the start was not very good for me. Afterwards, hiiiiiiiiii, I was close to following Vale but I made a small mistake on the second or third lap because I almost hit Savadori. I then wandered off and lost the group. Arf! But then, I pushed, pushed, pushed, pushed, pushed, pushed without thinking about anything, neither the wings nor the test tomorrow, and I saw a lot of things during this race. I finished 30 seconds behind but I think I finished the last race at 45 or 50 seconds, much more than 30 seconds with a bad start! »
Then, the one who will do the Superbike season with the Barni team launches into the Spanish version of this report, with lots of bursts of laughter and big gestures.
I promise, if Esteve Rabat comes back one day in the Grand Prix, we will go back to listen to him because, ultimately, he is a boy as endearing as... natural.
