Tito Rabat replaces Tom Sykes at Puccetti Kawasaki for remainder of WorldSBK 2023
Rabat replaces Tom Sykes after the British rider split with Puccetti Kawasaki following a disastrous start to the season.
After spending the 2022 season with Ducati in British Superbikes, Sykes’ comeback was met with several DNF’s, many of which were due to technical issues while only one point was amassed from 12 races.
- Checa: “You can’t automatically be at the front because you came from MotoGP”
- “Ducati-Bautista package racing in another championship”, Rea, Toprak ‘helpless’
For Rabat, the Spaniard will return to WorldSBK following an equally torrid season in 2021 with the Barni Ducati team.
A mid-season split saw him miss rounds in Barcelona and Aragon, before closing out the year with the Puccetti Kawasaki team.
Making his return to the Puccetti team, Rabat said: "I’m pleased to return to Team Puccetti and Kawasaki. This is a great opportunity for me to return to WorldSBK but also keep up the race pace, because this year I’m competing in MotoE where there are not so many races.
"I’ll try to make the most of this opportunity and help Manuel Puccetti’s team as they continue to develop their bike.
"I want to have fun of course, and give it my all, but also complete all the races in order to collect as much data as possible. See you all at Misano!"
With Sykes signed by the factory ROKIT Motorrad BMW team to replace Michael Van Der Mark while he recovers from injury, Rabat will take over at Puccetti Kawasaki until the end of the season, alongside his MotoE commitments.
Team manager Manuel Puccetti added: "I’m pleased to announce the return of Tito Rabat to our team. In both 2021 and 2022, the Spaniard was tasked with standing in for an injured rider, which is never easy, and he raced without having chance to test, so without knowing our bike.
"Despite that, Tito always proved to be the consummate professional, with significant experience under his belt in both the Moto2 and MotoGP Championships.
"It will be a pleasure for us to have him back in the team for their home round at Misano, where our goal will be to continue developing the bike and try to improve on the results scored thus far."
