Losail, 22 March: the opening round of 2014 season continued today under the lights of Losail circuit with Reigning World Champion Marc Marquez taking the pole position of the starting grid followed by Bautista and Smith. LCR racer Stefan Bradl used free practice four to prepare his RC213V for the 15 minute shootout – QP2 which saw the German leading the third row (7th overall) with a time just 0.364s off the pace (1’54.871). Stefan: “We improved the gap to the guys on the front and this is quite positive. It was a very close qualifying with many riders on the same pace. Our target was the second row but P7 is good anyway and the good thing is that we are not far from the top. Considering the new rules and the actual situation with Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa riding on the same pace as me, I think it will be an exciting race with many riders in a big group. It’s hard to make a prevision…”.

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Losail, 21 March: LCR racer Stefan Bradl ended up in 9th place under floodlights at the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar earning his first Q2 placing of 2014 season thanks to his best time (1’55.676) set at the end of day two at Losail. The German riding the RC213V confirmed to be comfortable on race pace but still struggles to produce a remarkable lap time on soft tyres. He squeezed into the top ten but is looking for more tomorrow. Stefan: “It was a tough day for us…overall the pace is not bad because our race speed is similar to the rest of the other guys but I am not happy about the fact that I was not able to make a decent fast lap on soft tyre. Between the two sessions we improved the bike but it was not enough to match the lap time that we did in the test. But it seems that also the other guys are struggling to get a good fast lap time. It’s not going to be easy for us but we need to see how the track will be tomorrow and how we can adapt with with the tyres”.
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Losail, 20 March: following two busy months of preseason testing the opening round of 2014 MotoGP World Championship gets underway today at floodlit Losail circuit with teams and riders involved in the first practice session of 45 minutes. LCR Honda Stefan Bradl took the track aboard his RC213V for a first shakedown completing 19 laps and qualifying 12th with a 1’56.726 best lap time. Stefan: “Today our plan was to save tyres for the next few days to have more options for tomorrow and the qualifying. It was important for us to lap on a hard tyre from the beginning to the end and, for this reason, we knew that we could not finish in the top of the timesheet. The track conditions were the same of two weeks ago and the grip was very poor. Let’s say that today we got a first impression and tomorrow we will start to push harder and fine-tune the bike”.
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For the third season the 2011 Moto2 World Champion Stefan Bradl (who was rewarded with the 2012 “Rookie of the Year” title at his debut in the premier class and conquered his first podium last year at Laguna Seca), will line up aboard the LCR Honda machine (Factory spec.) continuing his constructive cooperation with Lucio Cecchinello’s Team and Honda HRC. Stefan Bradl: “I am excited to be back on track after the winter break and more importantly, I am happy to ride with Lucio’s Team once again. Last year we had a very positive season and I felt that everybody really gave to me their maximum support. Firstly I must thank Honda HRC for believing in me and to thank them again for giving me the chance to ride one of their four Factory motorbikes. The challenge is high and my rivals are very strong but, on this bike, we have the potential to take more podiums”. Lucio Cecchinello (Team Principal): “I can not believe that it’s already 19 years that LCR Team exists. I feel proud and honored to be part of Honda HRC Factory plans and being able to give another chance to Stefan Bradl who undoubtedly deserves it. The 2014 season is probably the biggest ever task we had so far because our community fans, our partners and Honda HRC expect to see us challenging the front riders every round”. See more at: http://lcr.mc/eng/news/2014/stefan–%E2%80%9Cthree-two-one%E2%80%A6-lights-on%E2%80%A6-follow-us!%E2%80%9D_ID_3_IDa_8065.htm#sthash.RQW5d7T3.dpuf

Doha, 9 March: the three day of pre-season test held at the floodlit 5.380 km Losail circuit in Qatar came to a close at 23:00 local time tonight with Aleix Espargaro recording the best lap time of the whole session (1’54.874). The 17 MotoGP riders continued their busy schedules to try and ensure their prototypes are prepared in time for the first race at the circuit in just over two weeks. LCR Honda MotoGP racer Stefan Bradl had to deal with two crashes but the race simulation confirmed his good pace on used tyres. He ended the last pre season test with the 4th fastest lap time (1’55.187) still looking for some added grip to drop a further few tenths on new rubber. Stefan: “Today was very tough for me and the Team. Unfortunately I crashed twice (once during the race simulation) but overall we are not far from the top so I can leave Qatar with a good base for the first race. On used tyres we are strong and consistent but the issue with the new rear tyre is still there. We could not solve the problem completely but this seems to be a common problem for Honda riders. When we arrived here our target was not the fastest lap but the adjustment of the bike and I think we did a good job so far”.
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Losail, 8 March: the second evening of MotoGP floodlit test at Losail circuit ended with LCR Honda MotoGP rider Stefan Bradl in 2nd position on the timesheets with a 1’55.508 best lap time. After yesterday’s first outing on the desert track, Bradl looked to adapt his RC213V to optimal Qatar configuration circulating the track 51 times but he is still struggling to make the most of his machine on new tyres. The German and the rest of the field will reunite tomorrow night for the last testing session. Stefan: “I am happy with how today went (P2 is a positive result) but there’s still a weak point to adjust. In fact, despite our efforts, we could not get the perfect solution for the rear grip problems of yesterday. I am still struggling on maximum leaning and I miss some drive out of the corners. It’s a bit frustrating for me but seems a common problem amongst the riders here. The team is already at work for tomorrow so I am confident to be able to make further improvements”.

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Doha, 7 March: Losail International circuit hosts the final MotoGP pre-season test with 17 premier class Teams and riders (Factory riders from Honda, Yamaha and Ducati ended their pre-season test in Phillip Island some days ago) involved in their prototypes last adjustments before the opening race at the same venue on the 23 of March. The three-night test in Qatar is the last chance for LCR racer Stefan Bradl to fine tune his RC213V ahead the first round and the German has been putting his new bike through the pace since 4.00 pm local time continuing the set-up process till 11pm. At the end od day one Bradl produced a best lap time of 1’56.081 qualifying 5th overall. Stefan: “At the beginning the track surface was very dusty and we also preferred to wait till 6pm for cooler temperatures. On one side we are quite happy about our consistency but we actually miss edge grip to lap faster. This will be our main focus in tomorrow’s second outing: the tyre dropped down too quickly (probably I went out on new rubber a bit late and the humidity changed the conditions) and I need more grip to set a proper fast lap time on a new tyre”. See more at: http://lcr.mc/eng/news/2014/lights-on-at-losail-racetrack-for-last-pre-season-test-session-_ID_3_IDa_8062.htm#sthash.BSn7cexu.dpuf

Sepang, 28th Feb: the second test of 2014 has concluded with Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi clocking the fastest lap time (1’59.999) at the end of the 3-day action at Sepang circuit. LCR racer Stefan Bradl dedicated the majority of the day working on long distance pace again and his quickest lap time (2’00.164) came early in the session when the German took the track on soft rubber. Bradl took advantage of the slightly improved track condition to focus on the overall package of his RC213V before moving to Losail (Qatar) for the last pre-season test on the 7, 8 and 9 of March. Stefan: “I am quite happy about the job we made in the last three days. It’s tough to work in these conditions (37 degrees today!) and the guys worked hard to adjust the bike. Early in the session we went out on soft rubber and afterwards we kept working on long run performance. Today the pace was not as good as yesterday because I was not enough comfortable on hard front tyre but, overall, this test has been quite positive for us: we are not far off the pace”. See more at: http://lcr.mc/de/news/2014/bradl-concludes-fruitful-sepang-test-in-5th-place_ID_3_IDa_8061.htm#sthash.rF1xxkIM.dpuf

Sepang, 27 Feb: the pre-season testing continued today at Sepang circuit with track conditions generally improved than yesterday when the LCR Racer Stefan Bradl focused on hard tyre evaluation. In grueling 32 degrees the LCR racer finished the session covering 52 laps with a best time of 2’00.902 (6th overall): his best time was half a second better today. The former Moto2 World Champion put in a solid and consistent run for LCR and focused on different set-up adjustments to improve braking stability. Stefan: “Today the track conditions were somewhat better than yesterday but still not comparable with Sepang first test session. It’s tough riding the bike with this heat; however today we kept working on the race-long performance and we are quite happy about our pace. Throughout the day we made several adjustments trying to improve braking stability and, at the end of the day, we gained some good results. Tomorrow we will put all these things together and we will go for a faster lap time”. See more at: http://lcr.mc/eng/news/2014/-bradl-satisfied-about-his-long-run-pace-at-sepang-on-day-two–_ID_3_IDa_8060.htm#sthash.OEiF2VZt.dpuf

Sepang, 26 Feb: today the MotoGP grid resume their programmes from the earlier test at the start of February with three further days of action at Sepang race track. World Champion Marc Marquez will be absent, having broken his right fibula, and immediately after Sepang, the riders of Repsol Honda, Yamaha Factory and Ducati Team will travel directly to Phillip Island for their next test before the rest of the teams, including LCR Honda, will regroup for the Qatar test that same week. Stefan Bradl climbed aboard his 2014 bike early in the afternoon to build his confidence lapping the Malaysian circuit 50 times (8th overall – 2’01.491) but the dirty and slippery conditions of track surface, due to recent bad weather, slightly affected his performance on day one. Stefan: “Today the track condition was not very favourable and we took the track in the early afternoon waiting for the grip conditions to improve. After the first outing here two weeks ago, we gathered important data so today we worked again on the base set-up to have a clearer idea about the overall package. We mainly focused on the tyre wear to improve the traction in the corner exit and, on the hard compound, we set a good pace. I am not worried about the eight position today because our focus was the bike set-up and not the fastest lap”. See more at: http://lcr.mc/eng/news/2014/bradl-resumes-testing-programme-at-slippery-sepang-_ID_3_IDa_8059.htm#sthash.iwYzv5ir.dpuf