APRILIA IN THE POINTS WITH STEFAN BRADL
DIFFICULT CONDITIONS FOR THE BRNO MOTOGP RACE
The weather had a strong impact on race Sunday at Brno. The heavy rainfall in the morning stopped a few minutes before the MotoGP start, forcing the riders to start in rain configuration, but with the possibility of a bike change during the race. There actually was an improvement in conditions, but the track maintained characteristics to allow the riders, albeit with some difficulty, to finish the race with rain tyres.
After the warmup, the sensations in the Aprilia camp were good, as Alvaro Bautista’s eleventh best time and Stefan Bradl’s good pace demonstrated. With the track drying out and intermediate conditions, however, the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders were unable to find the right feeling. This was a situation that, with a first-season bike like the RS-GP, is to be expected when conditions are particularly unpredictable.
In any case, Stefan Bradl was back in the points at the chequered flag, thanks to his 14th place finish, whereas Alvaro Bautista (who also made a pit stop to change bikes, going back out with intermediate tyres), had to settle for sixteenth place.
ROMANO ALBESIANO – APRILIA RACING MANAGER
“Something in the race evidently didn’t go right. We need to analyse the data now to take a deeper look at the problem, but my first impression is that our setup was unable to adapt to the evolving track conditions. Compared to the warmup, where we did well, the lower quantity of water on the track probably reduced grip, making us struggle harder. We need Sundays like this one to collect data and increase our experience. For similar situations in the future, we will certainly not be unprepared”.
FAUSTO GRESINI – TEAM MANAGER
“This was not an easy race for us. We had hoped to express ourselves better in the wet, but instead we encountered some difficulties. In any case, a demanding Sunday like this one does not stop our work. In a few days we will already be on the track again at Misano for two important days of testing in order to continue developing the RS-GP. We must not give up, but to the contrary, we must increase our efforts. Our potential is definitely not what was seen in the last two races”.
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“The track conditions were really tricky today. This morning during warmup in the wet, the feeling was not bad, but in the race I struggled a lot, especially in braking. I always had the feeling I was losing the front, so I wasn’t able to push, whereas coming out of corners I was losing a lot more than my rivals were. Nine laps from the end I made a pit stop to change bikes, but even with the intermediate tyres we were unable to improve our position. Now we need to leave this race behind us and focus on improving the RS-GP, getting back to our level in the next round at Silverstone”.
STEFAN BRADL
“Today we did not make any mistakes at the start and we finished the race, so we were not lacking in concentration. In any case, I am not satisfied with the way things went. In the first laps I had a good pace, managing to stay with the group, but then, when the asphalt began to dry out, our electronics setting did not work as well as it could have. The traction control limited me very much coming out of corners. It was a feeling I had in the warmup as well and we made some changes to try and improve it, but evidently it wasn’t enough”.
