MOTOGP – SPANISH GP AT JEREZ
APRILIA IN THE POINTS WITH STEFAN BRADL
BAUTISTA CRASHES OUT WHILE BATTLING FOR A TOP TEN SPOT
ALBESIANO: “WE IMPROVED THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND, WE HAD THE POTENTIAL FOR A BETTER RESULT”
Alvaro Bautista crashed out in the sixth lap of the Spanish GP race while battling for a top ten spot astride his Aprilia RS-GP in the group made up of Laverty, Barbera and Crutchlow. For Alvaro, who suffered no physical consequences from the crash, this ended a weekend where his performance had been steadily improving. After just missing out on qualifying for QP2 twice and taking the best spot on the fifth row anyway, Bautista confirmed the progress his Aprilia had made in the race as well.
The crash was partially compensated for by the result earned by his Aprilia Racing Team Gresini teammate, Stefan Bradl who, despite lagging behind the entire weekend, rode a shrewd race, staying in the points zone and in the finale overtaking Hernandez to take fourteenth place and two championship points.
The team from Veneto still has the satisfaction of a weekend that highlighted the Aprilia RS-GP machine’s progress. Now there will be tests at Jerez tomorrow and the next few races will be new rounds to improve a promising project.
ROMANO ALBESIANO – APRILIA RACING MANAGER
“The race certainly did not go as we had hoped and up to our potential. Both Alvaro and Stefan got off the line well, immediately moving up a few positions. Bautista was in the group that was jockeying for a spot in the top ten. He crashed but these are things that happen when you’re trying to push to the limit. Bradl, on the other hand, set up a more cautious race, bringing home a few points, thanks in part to a nice move just in the final phases. We were expecting a better result and it was within our potential, especially after what we saw in the practice sessions, but in any case we worked hard once again this weekend, improving and identifying other areas that need work to move the RS-GP project along”.
FAUSTO GRESINI – TEAM MANAGER
“Alvaro was riding a great race and he was really close to the top ten. In general we had a good weekend where we definitely took some steps forward. The bike is growing. We can see the improvements and it would have been interesting to cross the wire with the rider who had been having the better weekend. That’s the way racing goes, but from tomorrow, with the day of testing, we’ll be focused once again on development”.
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“After a good start that earned me a few positions, I was battling with the group between eighth and eleventh place when I lost the front end in a fast corner. It’s a shame and I’m sorry for the entire team that worked so hard, but that’s racing and it’s only right to make a go of it. In any case this was still a very positive weekend. We did well during practice, I felt at ease in the race and I didn’t have any problems battling in that group. Anyway, now we need to look forward and keep improving the bike the way we have been doing so far”.
STEFAN BRADL
“The final result is positive. We worked hard on the settings to find the right feeling with the rear tyre. It was a rather demanding weekend in terms of grip. We also tried to take another step forward during the warm up session but it didn’t pan out, so in spite of going back to the previous solution I had a few misgivings at the beginning of the race. I got off the line better than I had in the last few races and in the first laps I felt good. Then I felt a drop in performance from the front tyre that forced me to slow down. Lap by lap I found my pace and I was also able to catch up our rivals, overtaking Hernandez at the end and earning a few points”.
