RAIN CANCELS OUT THE GOOD JOB DONE DURING THE WEEKEND WHICH HAD EARNED THE APRILIAS THE BEST QUALIFIERS OF THE SEASON
BAUTISTA, SIXTEENTH, FINISHES JUST SHORT OF THE POINTS ZONE
BRADL EIGHTEENTH AFTER AN OFF-TRACK EXCURSION
Motegi (Japan), 11 October 2015 – The weather conditions, with rain falling all night long, into the morning and lightly during the race, conditioned the race for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. After the best qualifiers of the season with Bradl in thirteenth place and Bautista in sixteenth, but above all with the excellent race pace demonstrated over the past two days on a dry track, it was reasonable to expect a battle for points for both riders. The wet track changed all the points of reference and forced Alvaro and Stefan into a very demanding race. In the end Alvaro found his pace but, having trouble with the tyres, he was unable to push hard enough to get into the points range. Stefan had an off-track excursion a few laps after the start that forced him to ride a difficult come back race, finishing in eighteenth place.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“Motegi was a positive weekend up to the qualifiers on a dry track which led us to our best performance of the year in practice. In the race we had to take on wet and mixed conditions that limited our performance. This happened from the start which, in this season, has always been a strong point for our bike. But this is also part of the experience that we are gradually acquiring, for example, on the chassis setup and in terms of electronics.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“After the good results in practice, today we hoped to achieve more, that much is obvious. Instead we were unable to be as incisive in the wet. I should point out that Stefan felt at ease straight away and he could have taken a good placement, but his race was conditioned by a mistake that took him on an off-track excursion. Bautista, on the other hand, didn’t have much feeling with the bike in the initial phases, although later on the situation improved. It was a difficult race and, like everyone in these asphalt conditions, we struggled with the tyres.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“The day before the race I was pleased with our preparation and even with the morning warm up session on a soft tyre didn’t go badly. But for the race the track was different, not entirely wet and in these conditions we chose to mount the harder tyre. In the first laps I couldn’t find the right feeling and then things improved a bit, but I never really felt comfortable like I had in the morning. So I had to find a pace and keep it, but in the last ten laps, when the tarmac seemed to be less wet, the situation worsened even more. I lost the front end a few times and there was a lot of spin at the rear when I would open up the gas. It wasn’t the race I had expected after a good weekend like this one.”
STEFAN BRADL
“At the beginning of the race I felt at ease on the bike and everything was going well. After a few laps I felt like I could manage more power, so I turned down the traction control. After a few more laps, however, the rear tyre began to wear and I had to turn it back up. As I was trying to press the button my thumb accidentally touched the pit lane speed limiter button. In a braking section with no engine brake I was forced to run on and in that off-track excursion I lost a lot of time. When I realised what had happened I pushed the button again and restarted, but at that point my race was compromised.”
