Phillip Island, 19 October: the Australian GP was an incident packed race with nine riders out of the final standing including the world champion Marc Marquez and LCR Honda racer Stefan Bradl who crashed at 8 laps to go. After two tough days of practices and the 11th spot on the grid, the German set up a very good pace for the 27-lap round (5th fastest rider) but during an overtaking manoeuvre he fell off loosing the chance to fight for the top five.

Stefan: “Actually we have done a good job during the race. All the weekend we struggled a lot with the tyres situation and we could not find our standard pace. Also starting from the 11th spot was not easy but finally in the race I found my pace. Then Iannone took out Pedrosa and I dropped back because I had to go wide. After that I pushed to come back and I was in the group with Dovi, Pol, Aleix and Bradley and I could match their pace. Unfortunately I made a mistake when I wanted to pass the guy in front of me in the hairpin and I could not brake hard enough and my front tyre hit Aleix’ bike. I crashed out and Aleix had to retire. I am very sorry for him and his crew. We have to keep going now and do our maximum in Sepang next week”.

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Phillip Island, 18 October: light rain fell on the Island circuit just before the QP2 show-down but did not affect the premier class riders performance on soft rubber. On the top of the time sheet, ahead tomorrow’s 27-lap race, the just-crowned World Champion Marc Marquez followed by Cal Crutchlow and Jorge Lorenzo while LCR racer Stefan Bradl (11th – 1’29.155) will start from the middle of the fourth row for a very close battle considering the small gap with the front group.
Stefan: “Absolutely not what we expected on this track and I am very frustrated about the 11th position. Actually my lap times are pretty good and I was trying to push my maximum but, just before the QP2 beginning, it started to drip and the conditions became a bit tricky for everybody. We chose a softer front tyre and it was the right decision but we missed our flying lap to qualify in a better position. However we are just 0.5s off the front row and the gap is very close so we can still obtain a good result”.

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Phillip Island, 17 October: Stefan Bradl’s first outing at the Island circuit did not commence in the proper way, as the German riding the LCR RCV, like the majority of his colleagues, was not able to perform with the new tyre pressure suggested by Bridgestone to avoid last year’s technical issues. Bradl ended the opening day of the Australian GP in 12th place with a best lap time of 1’30.678.
Stefan: “It’s hard to think positive today. Actually we had big problems with the tyres situation as we had to run a special tyre pressure for safety reasons due to last year issues, but I could not find the right confidence to set my pace. On the maximum lean I have no feedback from the rear tyre and we are loosing a lot on mid-corner and acceleration. Now we must check the data and find a solution for tomorrow because 12th place is not what we are here for”.

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Motegi, 12 October: in today’s crowded Japanese Grand Prix (more than 43.000 fans), HRC rider Marc Marquez won his second world title aboard the RCV while the LCR racer Stefan Bradl finished the Japanese round in 7th position, which allows him to maintain the 9th place in the world standing. The intention of the German rider is to score further points in the forthcoming race in Australia and Malaysia.
Stefan: “Well.. P7 is okay for this weekend considering my position in the qualifying yesterday. I took a good start and could pass Pol Espargaro catching Iannone straight after. I was the whole race behind him but could not pass him especially in the braking areas where the Ducati seemed to be really strong. I made some small imperfection in the last laps trying to overtake him and managed to finish 7th. Now we look forward to the next race trying to qualify in a better position to have an extra advantage during the race”.

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Motegi, 11 October: despite his impressive race pace shown throughout the free sessions, LCR racer Stefan Bradl could not repeat his strong performance on soft tyre at today’s Motegi GP qualifying show-down (9th overall-1’45.005). The QP2 session has been surprisingly dominated by Ducati rider Dovizioso who will start from the first spot on the grid followed by Rossi and Pedrosa. The German riding the RCV no.6 will share the third row with Espargaro and Crutchlow but he intends to quickly move forward during the 24-lap race.

Stefan: “Actually I am a bit disappointed with the qualifying result as I was expecting something more than 9th place. As you can see the gap is very close, but unfortunately we missed a few tenths to obtain the front row. My second soft tyre had some chattering in the beginning until it got warm so I lost one and a half laps so I was not able to improve my lap time. This is the bad thing of today’s work. Sure my pace is better than the 9th place shown today so I guess we can do a better result tomorrow”.

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Motegi, 10 October: the MotoGP contingent completed the first day of action at Motegi race track with LCR Honda racer Stefan Bradl immediately gaining a good feeling on the Japanese soil as he ended the day with a strong 3rd place (1’45.637). The German knew that his RCV would have been competitive and he did not make any special effort to qualify amongst the leading trio.
Stefan: “We are quite satisfied because we have been very fast for the whole day and 3rd place in the last free practice is quite good. Our pace shows that we have a good speed and we have been clear and immediate in taking decisions on our bike set-up. We took the right direction easily and now we have to keep an eye at the weather tomorrow to see if it’s getting cooler. But overall I am pleased with the job we have done today”.

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Aragón, 28 September: today’s 23-lap race in Aragón was one of the most breath-taking rounds of the season with many riders crashing out due to the tricky conditions (including the championship leader Marc Marquez). The MotoGP field had to deal with fog, rain and colder temperature after two days of sunny practice sessions. Starting from the third row on the grid, LCR Honda racer Stefan Bradl had realistic podium aspirations but the challenge in these conditions was complicated for everybody especially with heavy rain at the final part of the race. Bradl ended the fourteenth round with a very positive 4th place which gives him more confidence before the over-sea back to back races.
Stefan: “Well…it was a crazy race for us. Firstly we have lost some positions at the start because our clutch was not working well. Then I was on hard rear tyre whilst the others were on soft except Marc and Dani. With the mist I had not enough confidence to lean because I was loosing the rear on entry so I dropped back some positions. Then it started to rain more and more and I thought to go in one lap earlier but I had many things in my head at that moment. The pit-stop was simply perfect so we could gain some position s when we changed the bike. After that the podium was very close but I missed the final boost to go for it. Anyway in the past we had difficult races so this 4th place is very important for us especially before the over-sea races. Must thank my Team because they made an excellent job in these tricky conditions”.
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Aragón, 27 September: despite some small mistakes in the qualifying show-down today, the LCR racer Stefan Bradl confirms his good shape at Aragón circuit ahead tomorrow’s 23-lap race. Bradl will start from the third row between Lorenzo and Dovizioso (8th overall- 1’48.368) and his good race pace makes him confident to end the Spanish round with a positive result which allows him to rise in the general standing.
Stefan: “First of all we improved a lot our bike compared to yesterday. We made a big step in handling and the general setting so this is the good point for this morning FP3 and this afternoon FP4. We have shown a constant and good pace so I am looking forward to the race because we found a good solution for tomorrow. Unfortunately in the QP2 I made few mistakes and could not set a perfect flying lap. Our potential is higher but we missed a few tenths to qualify in the second row due to my errors. Anyway P8 is not a drama because we still have a good pace to catch the guys in front and I am sure we can achieve 2 or 3 positions in the race”.
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Aragón, 26 September: the Aragón GP opening day saw LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl working hard with his crew for finding the most suitable set-up for his RCV on the track where he has been always fast and consistent. Bradl compared both bikes ending the day in 8th place (1’49.002) and he is looking to repeat his 2013 result here on Sunday.
Stefan: “It was a productive first day for us as we started the weekend trying to find the right pace for this track. It took us a bit of time to finalize our set up because this morning I was not sure which kind of direction we should go: more the handling side or the rear grip side. So I tried both bikes with a different setting and I could go faster on both settings. Finally we also tried the hard tyre in the rear and the soft, so at the end of the day we have tried many things. I think we will go for the setting with more rear grip. We are P8 at the moment but the gap is very close, so with small adjustments we should be able to end in top five on Sunday”.

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Misano, 14 September: without any doubt the LCR racer Stefan Bradl was hoping for a different race at the crowded Misano circuit with more than 54.000 fans celebrating Valentino Rossi’s extraordinary victory. Bradl failed to challenge the front riders as he fell out in lap seven. As happened in Mugello, the German was not able to perform as expected but he luckily escaped unhurt from the accident and will be back in action at Aragon circuit in less than two weeks.
Stefan: “I am very disappointed because we crashed in a very good situation. The race was good from the beginning because I took a good start from the forth row. I saw that I was faster than Aleix Espargaro but it took a while to pass him. Finally I made it and managed to close the gap with the front group quickly but suddenly, in turn 13 in a left corner, I lost the front. I am very sorry because the whole Team made an excellent job this weekend especially for Lucio. We could have done a good job finishing in 5th or 6th place because our lap time was quite fast”.

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