Gosselies, Belgium: Tito Rabat and Mika Kallio will resume their battle for the 2014 Moto2 World Championship at Silverstone this weekend, as the Marc VDS Racing Team head across the English Channel for the British Grand Prix.
It is Rabat that currently holds the advantage, with his fifth win of the season last time out in Brno giving him a 12-point margin over his Marc VDS teammate at the top of the Championship standings. The 25-year-old Spaniard heads to Silverstone determined to extend this lead even further.
Having had to settle for second in Brno, Kallio will obviously be looking to close the gap on Rabat by beating him this weekend at Silverstone, but he will also be looking to extend his lead over Maverick Viñales, who currently lies third in the championship standings, 46 points behind the Finn.
After the disappointment of being taken out by another rider just two laps into the Czech Grand Prix at Brno, Jorge Navarro heads to Great Britain looking to add to the points he picked up on his debut for the Marc VDS Racing Team in Indianapolis. Silverstone is another new track for the Spanish youngster but, as he already shown since joining the Moto3 World Championship after the summer break, he’s a fast learner.
Tito Rabat
“Silverstone is very special, it’s a track where power is important and the ability to change direction at high speed, but it’s also a track where the weather can play a big part because it’s so flat and exposed. Maybe it will rain, maybe it will be very windy and, who knows in England, maybe it will snow, although I hope not! It’s impossible to predict, so we just need to turn up and do the best we can whatever the weather throws at us. I feel good, I feel strong, so I head to Silverstone to give it my all, like in every race this season.”
Mika Kallio
“I like the Silverstone circuit, but it’s not been particularly good to me in terms of results the last few years. Having said that, it was the same at Indianapolis and we won there, so this might actually work in our favour this season. The bike and team are working well and we’ve been strong in the two races after the summer break so, even though we go to Silverstone to fight once again for the championship, I’m not feeling under any pressure. It will important to start strongly in the first free practice session on Friday and then build from there.”
Jorge Navarro
“Silverstone is another new track for me, but I’ve been watching a lot of videos, racing the track on the PlayStation and free practice on Friday will be all about doing as many laps as I can to get a feel for the circuit on the race bike. My approach this weekend is the same as for Indianapolis and Brno, to improve with every exit aboard the Kalex-KTM. I head to Silverstone feeling strong and the team know what I want from the bike so, if we work step by step as we have done up to now, I think we can have a good race this weekend.”