2006: 23rd in the
125cc Motorcycling World Championship,
2nd in the Spanish 125cc Road Racing
Championship, Catalan 125cc Road Racing
Championship, Motorcycling 24-Hour
Race at the Circuit de Catalunya
Just like any other
children's dream, Tito Rabat's dream
began on a 6th January at the age
of three or four years. That magical
night, in which the Three Kings
bring Spanish children presents,
they brought Tito's first bike,
a Beta Gara 25cc, with which he
experienced his first rides in the
mountains on Saturday mornings,
always joined by his father. On
Sunday's the bike would stay in
the garage and it was time for the
four wheels. His father, big motorsports
fan, who had even competed with
cars, took him every week to the
Kartodrom de Catalunya, nearby the
Montmeló Circuit, where Tito
was able to cover his first kilometres.
At the age of five he entered his
first karting races, although Saturday
morning was always reserved for
the motorbike, be it the Honda Cup
he got for his birthday, the Montesa
Trial or the 125cc KTM he had when
he was nine and twelve.
However, in 2002
he decided that what he really wanted
to do was motorbike racing, so he
gave up karting and entered the
Rieju Cup. That was his first experience
in motorbike racing and he finished
the series somewhere in the middle
of the standings. The following
year he took part in the Honda XR400
Cup which was held in different
circuits in Catalonia – and
entered some races of the KTM 200
Cup, this time on a national level.
At the age of 14
he had his debut in the Supersport
class of the Catalan Motorcycling
Championship, with a Honda CRB 600.
That same year he also entered the
CRF 450 Cup and even managed to
win some of the races, finishing
the series in third position. He
also took part in the KTM 200 Cup,
winning two races, but was unable
to take part in all of the rounds
because they would coincide with
the other championships he was racing.
Towards the end of the year, already
15 years old, Tito took the start
in the two last rounds of the Spanish
Road Racing Championship on his
Honda CBR 600.
It was in 2005
when Raúl Romero's BQR Team
decided to include him in the team
to enter the Spanish Road Racing
Championship (CEV). With his 125cc
Honda, he managed to step on the
podium in Cheste. He continued racing
the Catalan Series, even won some
of the races, and he had the chance
to race four rounds of the European
Championship: Italy, Croatia, Hungary
and Germany, his best results being
two fourth places.
Precocious and
with a brief but intense background,
2006 was with no doubt the year
in which Tito Rabat managed to take
off. The chance to make the jump
to the Motorcycling World Championship
came at the 2006 Catalonia Grand
Prix. Aleix Espargaró, BQR
125cc rider, moved up to the 250cc
class due to internal changes in
the team, leaving one of the eight-of-a-litre
class bikes free. Rabat had his
debut in Catalonia and raced the
nine remaining rounds of the Motorcycling
World Championship. In his world
championship debut, and after taking
the 19th position during the practice,
he managed to overtake seven rivals
at the start, but crashed before
finishing the first lap. After four
races in which he crashed twice,
he managed to score his first world
championship points at the Malaysian
Grand Prix, where he finished twelfth.
Just one week later, in Phillip
Island, he was knocked down halfway
the race while fighting to be back
in the points. He had a further
good performance in Motegi, repeating
his twelfth place. At the penultimate
race staged in Estoril, bad luck
came over him. He touched with another
rider and crossed the finish line
in sixteenth position. Two weeks
later he finished the World Championship
scoring further points in Cheste
with the thirteenth place.
Tito Rabat had
been contesting the Spanish Road
Racing Championship at the same
time, and it had been a rather difficult
start of the season due to his quite
dreadful starts. At the first race
staged in Albacete, he was last
after the first lap, despite qualifying
second on the starting grid. He
was eventually fourth under the
chequered flag, with completely
worn-out tyres. The same story applied
to Jerez and Albacete. After improving
his weak side, Rabat managed to
make a step forward in the following
races. He got onto the second step
of the podium in Valencia, and achieved
the same result at the next race,
staged in Montmeló. He clinched
the victory in his second visit
to the Ricardo Tormo circuit, a
position he managed to repeat at
the last race staged in Jerez, thus
becoming runner-up of the 125cc
Spanish Championship.
After his first
experience in the World Championship
in 2006, Tito Rabat will face this
2007 season as a big chance to continue
learning as much as possible and
to give his best, thanks to the
backing of a team like the Repsol
Honda Junior Team. After discovering
the charm of countries like Australia
or mythical race tracks as Donington
Park, Rabat will continue learning
new circuits this year, while having
the chance to measure up once again
with the best riders of the world.
