Moto2: Tito Rabat To Stay In Moto2 For 2015
Cycle News Staff | July 17, 2014
Current Moto2 World Championship points leader Tito Rabat will remain with the the Marc VDS Racing Team for the 2015 series and won’t make the move to MotoGP next year after opting out of an option that would have allowed him to do so.
Rabat, who has won four of the nine races so far in 2014, had an option in his contract that would allow him to get out of the deal to move up to MotoGP if he won this year’s title. The 25-year old Spaniard has opted not to exercise the option and has committed to racing again next year in Moto2 with the team.
If Rabat earns the title this year he will become the first rider to defend his Moto2 World Championship since the class went from 250cc GP to the current 600cc four-stroke category.
“I’m happy to stay with Marc VDS in 2015 for a number of reasons, but the main one is because they are as committed to winning races as I am,” said the 25-year-old Rabat. “I have a good team of people around me and they ensure I have everything I need to win, so why would I go anywhere else? Now everything is sorted we can focus on doing what we set out to do at the beginning of the season, which is to win races and the championship. Nobody has ever won the Moto2 World Championship and then returned the following year to defend the title, so I hope I will be the first.”
Team owner Michael Bartholemy is happy to have his number-one rider back in the fold for 2015.
“Obviously I’m pleased that Tito will remain with the Marc VDS Racing Team next year, as I know he’s had quite a few offers to make the step up to MotoGP next season,” Bartholemy said. “That he’s made the decision to remain with the team now, rather than waiting, also shows just how committed he is to the job at hand. With the decision about his future made, he can focus completely on his main goal for this season – winning his and the team’s first-ever World Championship title.”
