After claiming the pole and victory double in Qatar, Rabat rode a faultless last lap of 2’10.135 this afternoon to top the qualifying timesheets by 0.266s.
His fantastic last lap, which came after his crew had calmly rectified a clutch and gearbox issue in high-pressure circumstances, secured the second successive pole position at COTA for the Marc VDS Racing Team, after Scott Redding took the first ever Moto2 pole in Texas a year ago.
Mika Kallio’s bid for a second successive COTA rostrum will start from 11th position, the Finnish rider unable to capitalise on the grip offered by fresh Dunlop tyres at the end of qualifying.
Kallio though has been one of the strongest performers on worn tyres all weekend, and he remains confident that he can follow up his second position in Qatar with another strong challenge for the top three in tomorrow’s 19-lap encounter.
Tito Rabat // Pole Position // 2’10.135
“I am really happy to be back on pole position because that qualifying session was very difficult at times. All weekend we have had a problem with the gearbox and downshifting to first gear. That becomes a big issue at this track where there are five first gear corners. In qualifying my team did an unbelievable job to find a solution and I don’t think many in the paddock could do that. My last lap was fantastic and I am confident for the race. It is going to be a tough race with so many riders fast but it would be great to get another victory to follow up from Qatar.”
Mika Kallio // 11th // 2’10.945
“Unfortunately I had a similar problem today that I had many times in qualifying last season. At the start when most riders are out on used tyres, I am one of the fastest and in the top three. But at the end when everybody is switching to fresh rubber, I can’t feel the benefit and the lap time is worse. It happened this morning too when I was faster on tyres with more than 30 laps on them than I was on a new tyre. It is hard to explain but the bike behaves completely different. It makes it very difficult for the race to start 11th but last year I started ninth and still fought back to take a podium, so with a good start anything is possible.”
Marc VDS Racing Team Press Release
