APRILIA IN THE POINTS WITH BAUTISTA IN THE LAST RACE OF THE SEASON
ALBESIANO: “THE PROGRESS MADE THIS YEAR WAS CONFIRMED ONCE AGAIN TODAY”
Valencia (Spain), 8 November 2015 – With Bautista riding his RS-GP to a points finish, Aprilia finishes out its rookie MotoGP season. In the last race at Valencia the Spanish Aprilia Racing Team Gresini rider finished in fourteenth place after a very consistent race where he started off well and then found and managed his race pace.
Stefan Bradl, who steadfastly occupied points positions for almost the entire race, was hindered by a problem with his brakes and a significant drop in tyre performance in the last two laps, crossing the wire in eighteenth place.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“After the good race in Malaysia and the preceding races in the Pacific tour we were expecting a bit more. With Stefan we had a poor feeling with the brakes that penalised him and then, for Bautista as well, there was a drop in tyre performance in the final laps, particularly a clear deterioration of the right part of the rear tyre. All in all things didn’t go that badly since we finished in the points despite these problems and this is confirmation of the progress we have made in the championship this year. Now we’ll get started again and prepare for next season.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“Today was a bit more difficult that we had expected, especially in the second half of the race. In the first phases Bautista and Bradl held good positions but then Stefan lost a lot of ground in the last laps unfortunately. Alvaro in any case brought home a good 14th place and in general we can say that we finished out the championship season improving and that’s what’s important. I would like to thank Aprilia, the team, our partners and the riders who put forth their best effort during this season of development, providing their important contribution to developing this project. Now we will look forward: there is still a lot of work to do but now we know that we are capable of improvement.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“I got off the line well, moving up several positions, and then I tried to manage the tyres in order to finish well. With a full tank I struggled a bit because I kept losing the front end when I tried to brake hard. As the laps went by the problem decreased and I was able to find my pace, even overtaking Stefan who had a similar pace but who was slower than me in a few points. I’m pleased to finish out such a demanding season this way. We finished all the races – except for Qatar but that wasn’t our fault – and this is very important. Throughout the year we improved a lot and for that I would like to thank Aprilia and the entire team, because we worked very well together. Now we need to focus on the new season to keep improving and to be more competitive.”
STEFAN BRADL
“It’s a shame because throughout the entire weekend we were fast and we prepared well for the race, but unfortunately today we were unable to repeat our performance from practice. I didn’t feel comfortable braking. I struggled to stop the bike and I was forced to use the rear brake a lot, so I stressed the rear tyre too much. That meant that in the last five laps I didn’t have any more grip and I dropped back quite a few positions, which I was very disappointed about.”
