Malaysia GP: FIRST TOP 10 FINISH ABOARD THE APRILIA RS-GP
Stefan Bradl underlined his potential again with a great top ten comeback in the premier class during Sunday’s battle in the heat of Sepang.
The 25-year-old German rider delivered a consistent strong performance over the course of last weekend. Bradl was able to confirm P14 on the grid with a fine warm up session Sunday morning before a great start into the race was the base as the Aprilia factory rider crossed the line in tenth position.
#6 Stefan BRADL (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, Aprilia) – 10th, World Championship position 18 (17 points):
“I’m very, very happy with today’s result as well with the race itself. Finally, I was able to deliver a decent result to my team, which we deserved since a while. At this point I want to express my thanks to the Mr. Romano Albesiano and Fausto Gresini that they gave me the chance to join the Aprilia factory team. Moreover, in a not usual way at halfway point this season. I think that I have shown my potential, my performance and my skills in terms of tech-savvy statements from the very first moment. Unfortunate we endured problems during some races because we were not able to exploit our potential in full manner. However, we have learnt a lot at every opportunity, especially at Phillip Island last weekend where we looked really bad. These findings were retrospectively massively valuable for us because now we know which changes to setup we need to do. The result of it was evident this weekend. The hot conditions here at Sepang were definitely an advantage for us as our package with the bike has brought the tyre to work more efficient. Finally, I’m also pleased at all with my performance during the race as well I delivered a strong showing during the entire weekend. I was able to race consistently fast with both new and used tyres and I managed it well to put all together in the race. About this, I’m very happy. So a huge thanks to my team for their great job. They are always and at every time behind me and we knew that we are capable of delivering performances like this. The race itself lasted an eternity. During the opening laps, I felt that I could have gone faster but as not fast enough to stay with the first group behind the frontrunners. However, as soon, I found my rhythm it was a lonesome ride and it was hard to stay focussed as well to control the gap to the riders behind me. In the end it was a strong race at all, I’m really happy.”
Race Classification MotoGP™ Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix:
1 Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / 40´37.691
2 Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / +3.612
3 Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / +13.724
10 Stefan BRADL / GER / Aprilia Racing Team Gresini / Aprilia / +44.601
MotoGP™ World Standings:
1 Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / 312
2 Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / 305
3 Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / 222
18 Stefan BRADL / GER / Aprilia Racing Team Gresini / Aprilia / 17
Next Race: Valencia / Spain, November 8th