GP Catalunya: FOUR POINTS AFTER DIFFICULT WEEKEND
It was a hard race for Stefan Bradl to find his speed this Sunday at round seven in Barcelona however he wasn’t entirely pleased about his sixth successive points scoring finish.
Thanks to nice weather at the time of the race, conditions were indeed good but the combination between the track’s surface characteristics and the tyres were for Bradl and his crew in Aprilia Racing Team Gresini an almost invincible obstacle in terms to set up the bike in a proper way. The 26-year-old factory rider in Aprilia reported after the race about too much wheel spinning which significantly affected his speed throughout the gruelling 25 laps distance.
#6 Stefan BRADL (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, Aprilia) – 12th (World Championship position 13th, 25 points):
“It was a difficult weekend for all of us. I think, there is no need to talk about why. To find the motivation and ambition after the tragically crash of Luis wasn’t an easy task. In a situation like this, you realize how quickly everything else moves to the background. At this point I would like to express my deepest condolences to Luis’ family and his team. I wish them the strength they need in this sad time. But we raced today, with Luis in our mind. My race itself was nothing special. The position was ok and we collected important points. But we struggled with too much wheel spin and even with massive grip problems. My team mate mastered it much better. Honestly speaking I’m a bit upset that he was so much better than me. We must analyse all data in detail and think about what has made the difference today. Anyway, little things caused a big difference. In addition, Alvaro (Bautista) was able to race a consistent higher pace throughout the distance. We must push ourselves even more in order to avoid something like this in the future. It is difficult to say if our test tomorrow will bring some useful findings in this respect because grip level will be similar to today and also due to the rapidly dropping tyres it it is difficult to feeling differences for changes that were made to the bike. In any case, every single lap will help to make progress with our still young project. I think, the two weeks break till the Assen race will be good for everyone to cope this weekend and to get some distance and then to be full again in the matter.”
MotoGP™ Gran Premi de Catalunya – Race Classification:
1 #46 Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / 44´37.589
2 #93 Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / +2.652
3 #26 Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / +6.313
12 #6 Stefan BRADL / GER / Aprilia Racing Team Gresini / Aprilia / +55.133
MotoGP™ World Standings:
1 #93 Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / 125
2 #99 Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / 115
3 #46 Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / 103
13 #6 Stefan BRADL / GER / Aprilia Racing Team Gresini / Aprilia / 29
Next race: 26 June, TT Circuit, Assen / Netherlands