Motegi, 27 October: in today’s sunny and crowded Japanese Grand Prix, LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl managed to finish the 24-lap penultimate round of the season with a brave 5th place overcoming the pain of the recently fractured ankle. After the disruption of Friday and Saturday, the MotoGP paddock finally enjoyed dry conditions taking to the Japanese circuit for an extra 45-min morning free session which saw the German in first place. Bradl’s determination and the intensive physiotherapy programme gave him the chance to race today scoring 11 points.

Stefan: “It has been a “crazy” weekend for everybody but, at the end, we had a dry race and I am happy about my result. I was more cautious compared to the other guys but I took a good start from the third row. At some point during the race Bautista caught me but I could feel some pain in my ankle due to the movement of the bike. Actually my ankle is at 85% and for me it was a long and tough race so we must be pleased with this 5th place”.