Rabat Takes Sensational Valencia Pole

Nov 7, 2015
2 min read

A stunning lap saw Tito Rabat take pole position for the season finale at Valencia.

The 2014 Moto2 Champion returned to the paddock this weekend after missing the last three races due to injuries and came back with a bang as Rabat took pole position on his final outing in Moto2. His lap of 1m35.234s came after setting a series of consistently quick laps which saw him close on previous pole sitter Zarco before finally overcoming Zarco's leading time and would remain unbeaten in the final runs. Rabat will be hoping to convert his pole position into only his third win of the season before he moves to MotoGP for next season.

Johann Zarco who successfully claimed the Moto2 title from Rabat this season will line up second on the grid with Moto2 rookie of he year Alex Rins completing the front row. Thomas Luthi had set the fastest times throughout free practice but could only manage fourth place and on the second row. Lorenzo Baldassarri impressed once more with a superb lap to take fifth on the grid to equal his season's best qualifying. The Italian found speed between practice and qualifying after only managing to be 17th in the earlier sessions.

Julian Simon will start Sunday's race in his best grid slot of the year in sixth just ahead of Axel Pons who crashed late in the session. Takaaki Nakagami starts eighth with Simone Corsi in ninth, whilst Sam Lowes had to settle for tenth after crashing early on. Lowes managed to return to the qualifying later in the session but could only improve up to tenth.

The 27-lap season ending race gets underway at 11:20 UK time on Sunday.

Moto2 Valencia GP Qualifying Top 10:

POLE POSITION - Tito RABAT, 1m35.234s

2nd - Johann ZARCO, +0.138s

3rd - Alex RINS, +0.207s

4th - Thomas LUTHI, +0.298s

5th - Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, +0.460s

6th - Julian SIMON, +0.494s

7th - Axel PONS, +0.518s

8th - Takaaki NAKAGAMI, +0.552s

9th - Simone CORSI, +0.662s

10th - Sam LOWES, +0.696s