GP France: SIX ROW START AFTER CHALLENGING WEEKEND
Stefan Bradl qualified for 17th spot on the grid for Sunday’s round five in Le Mans though there were a lot of comparison tests on his agenda for this weekend.
The 26-year-old factory rider in Aprilia and his experienced crew were mainly working to evaluate development parts for the all-new RS-GP prototype this weekend. Initially, it was scheduled to test all this stuff last Monday in Mugello but due to bad weather conditions it wasn’t possible to gain valuable information. Anyway, Bradl and his crew continued their work on various setup, chassis and electronic solutions, focussed on improving the feeling in acceleration which already started yesterday. However, before going into QP1 Bradl was recorded with an encouraging 13th fastest lap time during FP4 at lunch time today. In doing so, it underlines the potential of the 2016 version again.
#6 Stefan BRADL (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, Aprilia), Grid position 17th – 1´34.003 (8/8):
“I can’t say that I’m disappointed because I gave during qualifying 100 percent. But this weekend proves even more difficult than expected. So we continued to work testing a lot of different things as we tried to find solutions which improve my feeling in acceleration. We will analyse all data now in order to try to improve for the race. In addition, we will make a few changes to the electronics as well to the rear suspension. However, I’m confident that I’m able to round up this weekend in style again.”
MotoGP™ Qualifying Classification:
1 #99 Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / 1´31.975
2 #93 Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Respol Honda Team / Honda / 1´32.416 +0.441
3 #29 Andrea IANNONE / ITA / Ducati Team / Ducati / 1´32.469 +0.494
17 #6 Stefan BRADL / GER / Aprilia Racing Team Gresini / Aprilia / 1´34.003 +2.028