TWO FINISHES IN THE POINTS AND BAUTISTA IN THE TOP TEN TO CLOSE OUT A WEEKEND OF GROWTH FOR THE RS-GP
ALBESIANO: “A POSITIVE WEEKEND FROM THE START. WE ARE REAPING THE FRUITS OF OUR HARD WORK”
Alvaro Bautista’s tenth place and Stefan Bradl’s twelfth in the race demonstrate the progress that the Aprilia RS-GP machines showed throughout the weekend. The many changes tested in recent weeks and brought to the race at Misano gave the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders a positive approach from the very first sessions. Bautista going through to Q2 – the first time for the fledgling RS-GP – and Bradl’s excellent fifth row spot on the grid were the prelude to an extremely solid race for the two.
Alvaro started well from the fourth row, but contact with another rider in the second lap cost him a few positions, precluding any chance of an even better final result. After closing the gap behind the rider ahead of him, he battled with teammate Stefan and Petrucci to then pull away with a consistent pace that allowed him to easily defend a significant tenth place finish. Bradl also rode a very solid race, finishing twelfth.
ROMANO ALBESIANO – APRILIA RACING MANAGER
“This was a positive weekend from Friday. We achieved a good pace straight away with close gaps and consistently good positions. The race confirmed Alvaro’s great quality in terms of pace and Stefan also rode a very positive race. My compliments to our riders! The bike is maturing in many of its aspects, especially in terms of chassis settings. The hard work we have done with the many frame and swingarm solutions, as well as the components we tested recently, is beginning to bear fruit and, most importantly, it confirms that we are moving in the right direction with the developments we will be continuing in the upcoming Valencia tests. I hope that this is the start of a phase where we will reap the results of the hard work done by the entire Aprilia Racing department”.
FAUSTO GRESINI – TEAM MANAGER
“First of all I would like to doubly thank Aprilia for their efforts and the entire team for their hard work this weekend. It’s a pity about Alvaro’s contact with Redding. He lost those positions that he then worked hard to recover and he would have been able to do even better. But we had a good pace and this race shows that we have taken another step in the right direction. The gap behind the top riders is closing, especially when you consider the fact that in the last portion of the race, after he had made up the lost positions, Alvaro did not have to push like he did at the start. Now we need to keep moving in this direction to keep growing, because we are not that far off”.
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“I am happy because we rode a good race and had a good weekend. We knew that, despite going through to Q2, it would be a hard battle to get into the top ten and that is our goal. I started well, but in the second lap I lost a few positions because of contact with another rider, so I had to push hard to come back. Then, in the first laps, I had a strange feeling with the rear tyre. We don’t know why, but the bike slid around a lot. Then the situation went back to normal and I was able to maintain a good pace. I battled with Stefan and Petrucci, but once I overtook them I was able to pull away without any problems and I held my pace until the end. This was a decidedly positive weekend. We did a lot of good work finding new solutions for the bike and we improved, so I would like to thank Aprilia and the entire team for that. Now we want to continue moving in this direction to improve even more in the next portion of the season”.
STEFAN BRADL
“The weekend had started off well, but then a few problems kept me from using the evolution frame consistently. So for the race it was hard to choose which configuration to use and in the end I preferred the standard chassis. Unfortunately, it did not prove to be the best solution. I struggled with braking, the area where the new frame could have provided more advantages. In any case, the race result is not bad, considering the circumstances. I am back to finishing in the points. We showed some good signs during the weekend and we definitely learned a lot for the season finale”.
