Rabat Dominant Ahead of Qualifying

Jun 26, 2015
2 min read

Tito Rabat heads into qualifying this afternoon as the fastest rider having dominated proceedings in the third free practice session of the weekend. The Spaniard posted a fastest lap of 1:37.287 and completed a whopping 26 laps over the course of the 45-minutes, guiding his Marc VDS Kale to a string of mid to high 1:37s. More interestingly, Rabat completed the last 23 of those laps on the medium rear Dunlop proving it as a viable race option.

Xavier Simeon has looked quick over one lap this weekend and shot up to 2nd on the timing screens late in the session, taking his Gresini Kalex to a respectable 1:37.515. Championship leader Johann Zarco completed the top three but looks like he is yet to show his hand.

Simone Corsi managed 2nd quickest yesterday in FP2 thanks to a tow from Rabat, but continued to show fairly decent pace on his Forward Racing machine in 4th, with Tom Luthi jumping up from outside the top 20 to 5th in the closing stages of FP3.

Sam Lowes spent the early part of the session evaluating used tyres as wear has been a problem for the Briton in recent races. Fitting a fresh set of boots for the final quarter, the Speed Up rider jumped up to 4th before being bumped back to 6th.

Jonas Folger was 7th fastest, from Luis Salom, Alex Rins and a somewhat more promising looking Takaaki Nakagami.

FP3 Top 10:

1st Tito Rabat, EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex, 1:37.287

2nd Xavier Simeon, Federal Oil Gresini Team Moto2 Kalex, 1:37.515

3rd Johann Zarco, Ajo Motorsport Kalex, 1:37.751

4th Simone Corsi, Athina Forward Racing Team Kalex, 1:37.861

5th Tom Luthi, Derendinger Racing Interwetten Kalex, 1:37.871

6th Sam Lowes, Speed Up Racing, 1:37.901

7th Jonas Folger, AGR Team Kalex, 1:37.921

8th Luis Salom, Paginas Amarillas HP 40 Kalex, 1:38.039

9th Alex Rins, Paginas Amarillas HP 40 Kalex, 1:38.175

10th Takaaki Nakagami, Idemitsu Team Honda Asia Kalex, 1:38.190