STEFAN BRADL AND ALVARO BAUTISTA TO START TOMORROW SIDE BY SIDE FROM THE SEVENTH ROW. EXCELLENT WORK BY THE RIDERS ON THEIR APRILIA RS-GP MACHINES IN ANTICIPATION OF THE RACE
Misano Adriatico, 12 September 2015 – The qualifying sessions came to an end today at Misano Adriatico, the thirteenth round in the 2015 Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing season.
The Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders will start the race side by side from the seventh row tomorrow after working hard specifically on race strategy throughout all the sessions. This is a strategy that, on one hand does not highlight speed on the flying lap, but on the other guarantees that the two riders will be able to ride a more optimistic race tomorrow.
In nineteenth place with a time of 1’34.333 at the end of the qualifiers, Stefan Bradl took a spill without consequences toward the end of the session, just as he was improving on his time. A time of 1’34.368 earned Alvaro Bautista the twentieth spot on the grid, a result the Spaniard intends to improve tomorrow, thanks to the hard work done to ensure consistent performance from his RS-GP on the Romagnolo track.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“It’s a shame, first of all, about Bradl’s crash as he was putting in a good time, but obviously these things happen when you’re pushing it. Overall the riders are quite pleased with the bike. We’ll try to do some more work tomorrow on our race pace to improve this aspect even more. We don’t have any particular concerns about possible drops in tyre performance. We are able to consistently maintain the pace we demonstrated during the practice sessions, so we expect to improve our positions in the race.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“It was too bad about Stefan’s crash as he would have improved significantly, probably dropping below the 1’34” mark, but we are still confident for the race tomorrow, which will not be an easy one for anybody. In fact, Stefan achieved a good feeling with the bike today and Alvaro, who will be starting just behind him, also focused a lot on race pace. Hopefully we’ll be able to earn some good points, as has frequently been the case of late.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“I had hoped to be faster in qualifying but we worked hard throughout all the sessions to get the bike ready for the race and I’m sure that penalised me a bit on the flying lap. I wasn’t able to push hard but that’s sort of what has happened in recent races as well. We struggle more in qualifying but then we are looking good for the race. Tomorrow will be a long day but I think I’ll be able to manage it well and stay close to the points positions.”
STEFAN BRADL
“During FP4 we found some good solutions that improved the bike’s performance and they helped me to be faster today, although we are struggling a bit more here than on other tracks. I was really pushing hard in qualifying, giving 100% or maybe even a bit more… so I lost grip at the front and took a slide without any significant consequences. It was a shame not to be able to complete the lap, because I could have improved my time quite a bit. Anyway, the important thing is that today we were able to improve the bike setup, which is now more stable in braking and handles better, which also helps me to hold my line in the fast turns.”
