PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders Tito Rabat and Zaqhwan Zaidi have completed the first of the races making up this final WorldSBK round at Jerez Circuit in Spain. 

Saturday’s track action began with a final free practice, during which Rabat and Zaidi looked to find a few more precious tenths around the Jerez track in preparation for Superpole. Despite the brevity of this final preparatory session, the Spanish rider was able to take a good step, setting a 1’39.655. His Malaysian teammate continued to focus on race preparation but was also able to improve a little on his best of Friday, putting in a 1’42.225.

Eager to secure a good grid position at this final Spanish round, home rider Rabat was determined as the Superpole qualifying got underway. Setting an initial 1’39.520, Tito went all out for more in the final phase but a crash for another rider prevented him from improving on that time. Rabat therefore qualified twenty-second, for a spot on the eighth row of the grid. Improving by more than one full second on his previous best, rookie Zaidi closed qualifying with a fastest time of 1’41.148, which translated into twenty-fifth position, on the ninth row for Race 1.

Rabat’s Race 1 got off to a complicated start after he received a three-place grid penalty for slow riding during FP3. This meant that the Spaniard started from the back of the grid. With work to do, Tito quickly passed two riders and was up into twentieth by lap 3. Part of a small group of three riders, Rabat progressed to eighteenth in the second half of the race, a position he held to the line. From twenty-second on the grid, rookie Zaidi worked hard throughout the weekend’s first 20-lap race. Focused on maintaining a consistent rhythm and completing a clean race so as to have crucial data for Sunday’s races, the rookie concluded this first race in twenty-second position.

Tito Rabat #53

“An unfair penalty in my opinion, which meant we were three positions further back on the grid. It’s very hard to make passes through the first laps from that position. I did then get into a rhythm, but it came a little late, so hopefully we can find something that allows me to better follow the group in Sunday’s races. I expected a little more today, but let’s see what we can do tomorrow. We’ll keep fighting.”

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21

“I didn’t feel too comfortable on the bike today, to be honest. I did my best to enjoy the race, but I felt I should have been able to stick with the group better than I did. I did my best but didn't have the confidence for some reason. I think we’ll try a different setup for Race 2, and hopefully that will allow us to improve. Let’s see tomorrow, and in the meantime thanks to the team for all their hard work today.”