BUSY OPENING DAY AT THE GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE
Stefan Bradl and his crew of the team Athinà Forward Racing faces a busy work load at the moment, especially during the first free practice sessions at the world famous Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans as the Grand Prix de France got underway today. The 25 year young German concluded the opening day in P14 in the combined time sheet.
Nevertheless it was a good start for Bradl, who set the second fastest lap time in the Open category, some tenth off the pace of Australian Jack Miller, despite some minor problems with the electronics.
#6 Stefan Bradl (Athinà Forward Racing, Yamaha Forward), FP1: 14. – 1´35.367 (15/15) / FP2: 15. – 1´34.543 (19/19):
“It was a busy day due to a lot of work but in the end it was also a good day for us. Unfortunately we got limited by electronic issues again because the power delivery is too aggressive for this track layout. So for this we need to find a solution in order to be more smooth on the throttle, corner exit is the major problem at the moment. I hope that we can fix this problem for tomorrow because without that we’ve already a good pace. In doing so I’m quite confident that I can improve the lap times as well the position.”
Combined Practice Times FP1/FP2:
1 Bradley SMITH / GBR / Monster Yamaha Tech3 / Yamaha / 1´33.179 (FP2)
2 Jorge LORENZO / GER / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / 1´33.369 +0.190 (FP2)
3 Andrea DOVIZIOSO / ITA / Ducati Team / Ducati / 1´33.553 +0.374 (FP2)
15 Stefan BRADL / GER / Athinà Forward Racing / Yamaha Forward / 1´34.543 + 1.364 (FP2)