MOTOGP
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 12/SEPTEMBER 27, 2015
MOTORLAND ARAGON/ALCANIZ, SPAIN
P102
RABAT'S REDEMPTION
The first attempt lasted less than
two laps, when Dominique Aegerter
was knocked off by Xavier Simeon,
and the former lay motionless by the
track, bringing out red flags at once.
Simeon made the restart; Aegerter did
not, after bouncing back, his Tech-
nomag team unable to get his Kalex
repaired in time.
E-G VDS Kalex' Tito Rabat started
from pole, his second this year, lead-
ing away on both occasions from Alex
Rins on the Paginas Amarillas Kalex
and Speed Up's Sam Lowes.
Both times also Rins led at the
end of the first lap; and for the next
five, when the gap to the pursuit was
stretching towards two seconds.
It was a two-man race, with Rabat
taking over, but never more than a
tenth or two ahead as the laps ticked
down. The defending champion was
intent on victory to salvage a so-far
erratic season; the new boy had the
boost of racing close to his home
village. Rins shadowed his senior
rival, awaiting the inevitable last-lap
resolution, and setting a record on the
penultimate lap.
His attack came at the braking point
for turn 12, and he got through briefly.
But Rabat had been expecting it, took
the place straight back, and held on to
the line by less than a tenth. Only his
second win this year, it was one of the
sweetest.
Lowes had taken third off fast-away
third-row qualifier AGR Kalex' Jonas
Folger on the first lap, and the German
double race winner kept him honest
defending the position—Lowes' first
podium since Assen—until half dis-
tance. With the rest a long way adrift,
fourth was safe enough for Folger.
But where was Zarco? He needed
to finish well ahead of Rabat here to
secure the crown with four races to
spare.
