There has been a lot of talk about the Reale Avintia Ducati team lately. His move upmarket due to the arrival of Johann Zarco has a lot to do with it, so much so that we almost forget that the Frenchman has a teammate. This is Tito Rabat, in the walls for two seasons already, and he is also a former Moto2 World Champion, vintage 2014. How is he approaching this 2020 season when he seems condemned to live in the shadow of the Frenchman? With the bit in his teeth...
Tito Rabat will begin its fifth season of MotoGP this year, and its third within the Avintia Ducati team. He will be riding a GP19, like that of his new teammate who has put the team in a new light. However, between the two former Moto2 World Champions, there will be a difference: “ Johann Zarco has a contract with the Ducati factory, and I with Reale Avintia. The team tells me we will have the same thing. Raúl Romero and Rubén Xaus tell me that they will give everything to make it so »
Rabat will therefore have an eye on what happens in the box and this vigilance shows that the man with 13 Moto2 victories does not intend to let the man with 15 live peacefully: “ The arrival of Zarco is additional motivation. I had many teammates, like Mika Kallio, Pol Espargaró, Marc Márquez… Thanks to their speed, I learned a lot. I missed it a little, having a rider nearby who was fighting to win races in MotoGP, who had reached podiums or poles, who had almost won in his first race, who was a benchmark. It gives me wings, because I don't see myself that far away. It's right there. »
An optimism which can be explained by a factor which revealed itself during the last Sepang test… And this is the new Michelin tire, yet so much criticized… “ With these tires, contrary to what we hear from Honda and Ducati, I can enter the curve without going on the defensive, now the rear wheel is in contact. You can now concentrate on driving. There is no going back, you can only move forward. I can ride with confidence. This eraser informs you. For me it's a giant step »
Good news which whets his appetite: “ I think we have real options to be in the group from fifth to 12th. If strange things don't happen, it will be difficult to claim podiums and victories. But of course we can be part of this group » assures the pilot of 31 which ends thus on Trademarks : " this championship is changing more and more. You have nothing assured. We need results. I need to shake myself apart from everything else. I've been vegetating for four years. Almost everyone, including Zarco, needs to land a contract for 2021. »
