Tito Rabat made his comeback to WorldSBK during the Emilia Romagna round at Misano World Circuit, racing for Puccetti Racing as a replacement for Tom Sykes who left the team and is now filling in for injured Michael van der Mark at BMW. Interviewed by Julia Trusewicz during the weekend in Italy, he expressed how he feels on a MotoE bike and a superbike, how was he asked about coming back, and if he had already decided on elements to develop in the bike.
You are coming back to World Superbikes, so I just wanted to know if you have ever expected to be back to this paddock? Especially in the middle of the season?
Yes, of course, I expected that. If you are in an active mode – riding, racing and you have an experience like me, then it's always possible. Yes, I expected to be back, it's not a surprise, but it’s not the nicest thing is to be thrown back racing immediately, no? Anyway, it's a target to arrive and achieve my best with no testing and to try to get the best of the package.
Definitely. You were with this team before, you replaced Lucas Mahias last season, so it could have been expected that someday you are going to ride for this team?
Yes, I replaced Mahias last year, and now Sykes, and it's not a surprise. Of course, I didn't expect it to be now, you never do. It's not a surprise, but I'm really happy.
How did this comeback exactly happen? Did you just get the call two weeks ago when Tom was announced to be leaving?
Yes, it's always like this, isn’t it? I just did the first races of the Spanish championship, which also is an extremely fast championship with lap times that are very close to this one, and it was my last year’s team that called me one day before for that. I said:” Ok, I’ll come”. I went and won two races that weekend. Here, they called me a week before and I said: “ Ok, I can do it”. You know, in the end, it looks like this. Now, it's good to be here and have the opportunity to ride and race.
You're going to be here for the rest of the season. So, what are your expectations and maybe goals for the team and you as an individual for the rest of the season? You are going straight into racing, without any testing or preparation - so it's probably going to be hard?
Not like that, to be honest. Of course, it's hard in general - it's a championship, where every year the people are on a higher level, the teams are on a higher level, and they arrive more prepared. If you arrive like me – “Come on Tito, let's go!” - then of course it's super hard, but you need to always take the best out of everything and that’s what I do. It's hard, but it's a target to manage the situation and ride better.
Are you happy that this comeback is happening in Misano? Of course, it's not your first time on this track. Do you like it?
Yes, I'm happy because Misano is a good track for me - it's a track I know and it's a track where normally the gaps are smaller, so it's easier to learn. Imagine that we arrive, maybe, in Mandalika. This track is a track, where you can manage the situation quite well. Still tough, but easier than Mandalika, for example.
You mentioned the Spanish championship, but you're also racing in MotoE. It’s three different championships at the same time - isn't it a little hard to ride and compete in all of those?
No - what is hard is not this but the situation that you arrive in. I change bike every day, fortunately not the girlfriend because I’ve had the same girlfriend for four years…[laughs].
That's pretty good!
Yes! [laughs]. But I change bikes every day, so this is not a problem. The problem is that we started MotoE after just one test in Jerez, then one at Montmelo – and you know how MotoE works: seven minutes and finito. It's very hard to arrive in a new championship and to do something good without precision and a factory team. That is the problem - not changing the bike itself, I'm used to it, and I know how to manage the situation.
I just was about to ask about the bike; how do you feel on the MotoE bike compared to the superbike?
MotoE bike has quite interesting things - especially in the electronic part. I speed from 0 km/h to 100 km/h faster with the MotoE bike than with the superbike, but when more than 100 km/h is up, the bike needs more power. Of course, braking is completely different because it's a 230 kilograms bike. The brakes are not the best, you can always have better ones, but those are the brakes we have. MotoE is an interesting championship and will be more and more interesting.
Would you say, after today's practice, that you feel more comfortable on the superbike or on the MotoE bike?
I feel comfortable on both.
You got used to both, you're changing the bike all the time.
Yes, that’s no problem, I feel comfortable on both.
You're now after FP1 and FP2 on a superbike, so how do you feel about the bike now? Do you feel like you already see something to develop or you're just trying it out and you're going to think after the weekend?
I feel the bike like... I can tell you this; I could write the book now about this question, then I could try to make a resumé [laughs]. We can work a lot in the electronic part, where it's clear what I’m feeling. Also, with the suspension - it's clear that the bike doesn’t work in harmony. This bike needs to work in harmony. When I roll the gas, the bike rolls the gas later; when I open the gas, the bike opens the gas later; when I brake, the suspension works in another way. Then this is alright because these are things that I can improve with the team.
So that was the last question. Thank you so much, it was nice to meet you.
Thank you, nice to meet you too.
