Rabat and Zaidi Battle Hard at Aragón WorldSBK Despite Setbacks

Rabat salvages a P17 finish as Zaidi shows progress before a late crash, with the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team now turning focus to Estoril. 

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The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team endured a weekend of mixed emotions at MotorLand Aragón, as Tito Rabat and Zaqhwan Zaidi fought through challenging circumstances during the tenth round of the World Superbike Championship.

After a short warm-up session, both riders were ready for Sunday morning’s ten-lap Superpole Race. Starting nineteenth on the grid, Rabat made a strong launch but was almost immediately caught in a multi-rider incident at Turn 5. The Spaniard, blameless in the crash, was forced to retire on the spot but fortunately escaped injury. Rookie Zaqhwan Zaidi, meanwhile, pushed hard from twenty-second on the grid, making steady progress to cross the line in nineteenth, once again closing the gap to the leading group compared to earlier sprint races.

The afternoon’s 18-lap feature race brought another opportunity to gather valuable data. Rabat, starting from P20, kept a consistent rhythm in the first half before gaps in the field widened, limiting his chances to attack. The former MotoGP rider held his focus and eventually moved up to seventeenth, a position he carried to the chequered flag. Zaidi had looked competitive early in the race after making a good start from twenty-third on the grid, but his progress ended prematurely when he crashed at Turn 9 with six laps remaining.

With only two rounds left in the 2025 WorldSBK season, Rabat sits twenty-fourth in the championship standings with six points, while Zaidi holds twenty-sixth with a single point earned at Magny-Cours. The team now shifts its focus to Portugal, where the Estoril Circuit will host the penultimate round on 10–12 October.

Tito Rabat #53: “Obviously I’m not happy about the Superpole race, as the crash was not my fault and it meant my race was over immediately. We made changes to try to improve something for today’s long race but unfortunately it felt tougher than in Race 1. We need to analyse the data to understand why. I tried to do my best anyway and continue to give 100%. Let’s see what we can do next time out at Estoril.”

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21: “We’ve worked really hard and tried many things to find the best possible feeling. In the Superpole race I tried to keep good pace but didn’t really have the feeling I was looking for. We made a change for the long race and that definitely improved things, as I felt more comfortable and was better able to maintain the pace compared to Race 1. Maybe slightly lower temperatures also helped with the grip today. Unfortunately, I felt a bumping sensation at one point and crashed at Turn 9; I tried to save it but it was not possible. I think we’ve made progress anyway, working well as a team and achieving the mini targets we’re setting each time. We’ll keep working and see what we can do next time.”