Australian GP: THIRD ROW START AT THE ISLAND
Stefan Bradl made it through Q2 on Saturday and was extremely pleased about his best starting position this year.
After the chaotic Friday with truly adverse weather conditions the situation changed slightly for Saturday though temperatures remained as cold but teams and riders were able to find dry conditions for some practice at least. However, final free practice which was extended to one hour was run under mixed conditions too. Stefan Bradl posted tenth fastest lap time during this session and in doing so he made it through Q2. During this 15 minute the first four rows on the grid are to decide. After a brief but heay rain shower during FP4 in the early afternoon the track dried out quickly for Q2 finally. This fact allowed teams and riders to use slick tyres for the first time this weekend. Meanwhile, during the 15 minutes long timed session Bradl was able to adapt quickly to the changed conditions after he went into the session with intermediates first and then switching to slicks. He was rewarded for his efforts his eight spot on the grid for Sunday’s race.
Race distance sees 27 demanding laps at the fast and flowing Phillip Island circuit with starting time scheduled for 4.00 pm in the afternoon because of the big difference in time to Europe.
#6 Stefan BRADL (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, Aprilia), Grid position 8th – 1´33.015 (8/8):
“We had a pleasant start into Saturday thanks to a good FP3 this morning. I started with intermediate tyres and I could set a fast lap time early on. However, conditions over the course of this session were difficult again but to qualify directly for Q2 was the most important thing anyway. I started qualifying with intermediates again because we expected rain but the weather remained dry. So for this I came back to the garage to change for slicks. Maybe it was one lap too late but in any case, I was able to improve my lap time to qualify for eight spot on the grid. A third row start is a good starting position anyway – the best for me and Aprilia thus far. I’m happy but conditions were really incredible the last two days. At the moment it’s not possible to speak about expectations for the race. If it’s dry tomorrow then we must take benefit from warm up in order to gain as much as possible information and which tyre we could use for the race.”
MotoGP™ Qualifying Classification:
1 #93 Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / 1´30.189
2 #35 Cal CRUTCHLOW / GBR / LCR Honda / Honda / 1´30.981 +0.792
3 #44 Pol ESPARGARO / SPA / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / Yamaha / 1´31.107 +0.918
8 #6 Stefan BRADL / GER / Aprilia Racing Team Gresini / Aprilia / 1´33.015 +2.826