GP San Marino: VALUABLE POINTS AFTER TOUGH WEEKEND
Stefan Bradl finished Sunday’s Misano race in twelfth position but he wasn’t really happy about the weekend overall.
This season’s round 13 at the Italian Misano World Circuit, at the same time the second home race for Aprilia and Gresini racing, was fated from the perspective of the 26-year-old German rider. A private test two weeks ago was the perfect opportunity to prepare well for this weekend. But too many problems in as many respect has made it more difficult as expected. Bradl, who qualified for 13th spot on the grid on the previous day which his best starting position so far this year, saw himself contended with bike choice for the race. Finally, he added four points to his tally to round up this weekend reasonably positively.
Bradl hopes now to be better positioned concerning his package for the next race in weeks at the Spanish MotorLand Aragón circuit.
#6 Stefan BRADL (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, Aprilia) – 12th (World Championship position 16th, 43 points):
“Our prerequisite were belittled from the outset because of the constant move from one to the other bike. Ultimately, I decided for that bike with that I had the better feeling. Our plan also was to make a comparison test during this morning’s warm up but due to the cooler conditions it worked out pretty useless. By the by, I opted for the No 2 bike with that I did a good qualifying yesterday. With this bike I had a good feeling indeed, even when the tyres heated strongly but on the other hand I had clearly disadvantages on the brakes. Nevertheless, I felt a lot safer with this bike. But from halfway point of the race I was easy to overtake in breaking areas. Soon later, Alvaro passed me and was amazed that I wasn’t able to do anything to defend my position. At this time, I also got a little trouble with my forearm. I quickly realized that the situation would be worse if I keep pushing hard. So for this I followed Petrucci for a while but for more it wasn’t enough. At the end of the weekend, this outcome is ok because we’re able to take some points. But the course was difficult because of the constant change in terms of bikes. It’s a real pity, that we hardly could take benefit from our test here two weeks ago. In any case, we struggled because of all these issues a lot. In addition, I would say that we didn’t necessarily have this luck this weekend. Gearbox issues, a harmless fall on Friday, ok, that can happens always. But that you just have on bike available with which you can work efficiently, is a pity too.”
MotoGP™ GP di San Marino – Race Classification after 26 Laps:
1 #26 Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / 43´43.524
2 #46 Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / +2.837
3 #99 Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / +4.359
12 #6 Stefan BRADL / GER / Aprilia Racing Team Gresini / Aprilia / +39.967
MotoGP™ World Championship Standings:
1 #29 Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / 223
2 #46 Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / 180
3 #99 Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP / Yamaha / 162
16 #6 Stefan BRADL / GER / Aprilia Racing Team Gresini / Aprilia / 43
Next race: 25th September, MotorLand Aragón, Alcaniz / Spain