After five honest seasons in 125 Grands Prix, punctuated by a sixth place in the championship in 2010, Tito had five good years in Moto2 with of course an excellent world title obtained in 2014. He moved to MotoGP last year, still with Marc VDS, but with much more limited success.
He finished twenty-first in the final general classification in 2016, with his best result of ninth place in Argentina, and his best qualification of eighteenth place in Austria, Aragon and Japan.
This year, Tito is currently tied for eighteenth place with Karel Abraham, preceding alex rins (forfeit on 5 events), Hector Barbera, Bradley Smith and Sam Lowes. Next year he will ride a Ducati with the Avintia team. In 2017, Rabat was never able to finish in the top 10, finishing eleventh in France and Italy. His best qualifying finish was tenth at Mugello.
Earlier this year, Michael Bartholémy set up a MotoGP team without Rabat for 2018, with Jack Miller and Franco Morbidelli. Then Miller signed with Pramac, but that did not make room in Rabat because Tom Lüthi was hired alongside Morbidelli.
In June, the wealthy father of Tito Rabat began to criticize the Marc VDS team, ensuring that his son had inferior equipment and a technical manager than those of Jack Miller. What team manager Michael Bartholémy refutes: “With us, all the riders have the same equipment, even in Moto2 ».
“On a human level, separation is boring, said Bartholémy. I think I did a lot for Tito. He came to us, we always paid him a good salary and never asked for sponsorship funding. Since he saw that he wasn't going to drive for us next year, he hasn't spoken to me anymore. It's a shame, because in the end it was four great years.
“He won the first World Champion title for Marc VDS. We also fought for the title the following year. I then gave him the opportunity to drive in MotoGP. He couldn't have done it elsewhere, at least not in these conditions, always with a factory motorcycle and a good salary. He is now suffering from this situation. But when he's gone, we won't be able to have a relationship like before.
“Two years ago I said to Tito: “ you should stay in Moto2, MotoGP is a different league from Moto2 ". I often remember this conversation, and I ask myself: Why not race five or six years in Moto2 and be a star? It's better than being last in MotoGP. »
Photos © Marc VDS Racing
Source: Günther Wiesinger for speedweek. com
