GP AMERICAS: ENCOURAGING PROGRESS AT DAY ONE IN TEXAS
Stefan Bradl was pleased how things went during both Friday sessions in order to find a rhythm for the challenging Texan track.
In good conditions, Bradl and his crew in Aprilia Racing Team Gresini mainly worked with tyres and some first settings for the demanding and varying layout of the Circuit of The Americas. In doing so the 26-year-old German was able to set decent lap times in both free practice and most important he could lower the gap by less than two seconds this afternoon. However, in comparison to FP1 he failed to finish again in the top 15. Nevertheless, it was an encouraging start into round three.
#6 Stefan BRADL (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, Aprilia), FP1: P14 – 2´07.135 (14/14) / FP2: P17 – 2´05.922 (14/14):
“After our experience made last week in Argentina, I expected to struggle more with the tyres here, but instead I haven’t found any big problems. The track is slightly bumpier in the first section than it had been in the past, but overall I’m quite satisfied with both today’s sessions. Of course there are a lot of small things to sort out and in particular we need to find traction, but I think that if we continue to improve step by step than we’ll be able to find a proper setup for Sunday’s race.”
MotoGP™ Combined Free Practice Times:
1 #93 Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / 2´04.034 (FP2)
2 #29 Andrea IANNONE / ITA / Ducati Team / Ducati / 2´04.740 +0.706 (FP2)
3 #25 Maverick VINALES / SPA / Team SUZUKI ECSTAR / Suzuki / 2´04.895 +0.861 (FP2)
17 #6 Stefan BRADL / GER / Aprilia Racing Team Gresini / 2´05.922 +1.888 (FP2)