Tito Rabat has confirmed that he won’t compete in the Valencia GP but will take part in the post-2018 MotoGP test at the same circuit with Reale Avintia Racing.
Rabat is still recovering from the triple fracture he suffered during the FP4 session of British GP at Silverstone. In his bid to make a competitive racing return, the Spaniard has been riding the Ducati Panigale V4 with more than 200 HP to test his strength.
However, Rabat feels that he will not be able to ride the Desmosedici GP17 during next weekend’s MotoGP 2018 finale at Valencia and has since decided to only return during the two-day (November 20-21) test at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit.
Rabat will ride the GP18 which the factory riders have been racing on this year. “I have been working hard for more than two months since I got injured, my leg is getting better everyday and I have been able to test with my Panigale in a couple of circuits,” he said.
“I have seen that on the bike the leg is not a problem, but I have also seen that I’m still not 100%, therefore, it would be very dangerous for me and the other riders to return for next weekend’s Valencia race. We believe it is the best decision.
“But for sure I will try the at test on Tuesday with my new Ducati GP18. We will see how I feel and then keep working to recover my leg to reach the top before next season. This is the most important thing.”
His teammate Xavier Simeon has been riding Rabat’s GP17 since the round at Misano with Christophe Ponsson and Jordi Torres sharing duties abode Simeon’s GP16 – the former did just the one round at Misano while the latter has raced since Aragon.
Torres, however, has injured his hand in Malaysia which casts doubt over his participation in the Valencia round. For 2019 though, Avintia is the only team yet to complete its line-up with Rabat favourite to continue alongside new signing Karel Abraham.
