STEFAN BRADL STARTS EARLY 2016 SEASON PREPERATIONS
For the 25-year German MotoGP rider and his crew in Aprilia Racing Team Gresini the new season got underway with a two-day test at the Valencia circuit.
Just two days after the season’s showdown last Sunday in Valencia the 2016 MotoGP season saw its early start on Tuesday and Wednesday. For most of the teams and riders it was a further shakedown with the all-new Michelin tyres which will be supplied by the French manufacturer from the upcoming season onwards.
For Bradl and his crew it wasn’t the very first ride with Michelin tyres and to meet their technicians as they had an opportunity already at the Aragon post-race test end of September. In fantastic weather conditions, Bradl lapped 82 times the 4 kilometres Valencia circuit in overall throughout this week’s test, though he had to record two falls in his box. Fortunate without any consequences to rider and bike, so he was able to continue his workload quickly after each of these incidents. However, before Bradl will head into the two-month winter break a further two-day test at the Circuito de Jerez is scheduled for November 25th to 27th.
#6 Stefan BRADL (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, Aprilia) 1´32.492 (82 laps):
“The last two days of testing were definitely demanding. Fortunate the weather conditions were such as great so we were able to do so many laps as well we gained a lot of valuable data. The feeling with the Michelin tyres are very different to that we were accustomed, particularly the front that caused many crashes. Therefore, we were working a lot on the bike’s setting just to try to improve this feeling and to get the tyres to work as best as possible. In doing so, we tried many different things on fork adjustments, on the geometries and weight distributions. Therefore, we still haven’t achieved the result we hoped for but it was so important to start this job anyway. Later this month we will go to Jerez for a further test where we can continue this adaption process on a different track.”
Official MotoGP™ Test Valencia:
1 Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / 1´31.060
2 Maverick VINALES / SPA / Team SUZUKI ECSTAR / Suzuki / 1´31.163 +0.103
3 Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / 1´31.180 +0.120
19 Stefan BRADL / GER / Aprilia Racing Team Gresini / Aprilia / 1´32.492 +1.432