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Category: Moto GP
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Brno (Czech Republic), 12 August 2015 - It's a non-stop August for MotoGP and Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. In fact, just a few days after the American weekend at Indianapolis it's time to fly to Brno in the Czech Republic for the eleventh round of the season. An exciting track, full of up and downhill sections, demanding for the chassis and the engine: the ideal testing ground to continue developing the RS-GP and, above all, to lay a solid foundation for creating the 2016 Aprilia prototype.
For Alvaro Bautista the goal of finishing in the points at Indy went up in smoke due to tyre wear on a track that was not very well suited to the Italian bike, but at Brno the Spanish rider is keen to get back to his usual level of competitiveness.
After a convincing début in the USA, Stefan Bradl will take on Brno with renewed optimism. On a track that he knows well, Stefan will be able to begin the weekend already familiar with the bike and the Team. Even from a physical point of view the Czech track seems to be less demanding on paper, which is good news for his recently operated right wrist.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Director)
“Having two riders with very similar performance allows us to do more testing which is a positive aspect for solving the growing pains of our package. At Brno we'll be putting a new frame on the track and we'll basically be using new setups, precisely for the purpose of streamlining our programme in view of 2016. With its fast turns and direction changes, the Czech track will be a demanding test bench for the RS-GP machine's chassis. We will definitely be gathering some more fundamental data.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“The Indianapolis track was not one of the most favourable that we've been on so far and consequently we struggled a bit more than we had expected: at Brno we are hoping for an improvement, considering the fact that we can also count on a few technical changes in terms of the chassis. We'll continue with our development work and this weekend we hope to be able to take another step forward. At Indy we saw a good début by Bradl who was unfortunately slowed down in the race by his injured wrist. He doesn't have much time to recover, but we hope that he'll be more physically fit for Brno.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“Brno is a very different track compared to Indy. We need to try to make the bike agile with all the direction changes, whereas on the uphill sections the engine counts a lot. We'll continue our development work with the goal of collecting as much data as possible and laying the foundation for the 2016 project. This weekend we hope to be more competitive and to take home some satisfaction.”
STEFAN BRADL
“We are going to a track that I know very well and where I have had good results in the past, so I can't wait to get back in the saddle. On paper Brno is also a physically less demanding track than Indianapolis, so I hope that my right wrist doesn't give me problems, also considering the fact that I'll have a few days to rest. I'll also be able to begin practice starting from a level of familiarity with the bike which is definitely higher, so I hope that we'll be able to do a good job this weekend.”
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Conor Cummins will be back on-board the Honda Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade SP this week for the Ulster Grand Prix. Situated just west of Belfast in Northern Ireland, the event takes place on the 7.4-mile Dundrod circuit and is dubbed ‘the world’s fastest road race’.
The ‘Ramsey rocket’ was due to race at the meeting last year for Honda Racing, but had to pull out after sustaining an injury at the Southern 100 in mid-July. Cummins has enjoyed previous success at the UGP, winning the Superbike race in 2009 and is a former lap record holder, something he hopes he can repeat this year.
Cummins will compete for Honda Racing in three Superbike races, with one on Thursday 6 August and two on Saturday 8 August.
For real-time updates follow @HondaRacingCBR
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Stefan Bradl makes his debut on the Aprilia RS-GP alongside Alvaro Bautista
Indianapolis (USA), 4 August 2015 - After the three week summer break the MotoGP engines roar to life for the Indianapolis GP. But even during the holidays there were changes afoot: German rider Stefan Bradl will make his début on the Aprilia RS-GP for the American round. Bradl will then continue throughout the season on the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini alongside Alvaro Bautista.
At exactly the midway point of the season Bradl's contribution could be decisive in continuing the project development process which is Aprilia's primary goal in this rookie year of MotoGP. This is a progressive job that Bautista has been carrying out perfectly from the start of the championship, managing to consistently battle for points and, with the tenth place finish at Barcelona, bringing home a very encouraging result for the entire team's work.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“Stefan is a young rider with a lot of important experience and he's fast, having won the Moto2 world championship title and taking home some good placements in MotoGP in recent years. We are expecting an important contribution from him in developing the RS-GP, working alongside Alvaro Bautista who has done a truly excellent job thus far. I would like to thank Michael Laverty for his efforts and professionalism during the German GP.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“After a three week break we are anxious to get back onto the track. Up to now we have been able to do a lot of work on the RS-GP and with Bautista we have also brought home a few satisfying results, like the tenth place finish in Barcelona and the other five finishes in the points. Now we are ready to get back to work with even more enthusiasm. We are sure that with the arrival of a fast and expert rider like Stefan Bradl alongside Alvaro our progress on the technical front will move along even quicker.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“During the summer break unfortunately I didn't have much time to relax. I would have liked to have spent some time on the beach, but it just wasn't to be. In fact, after the Sachsenring race, my right forearm which had been operated on for compartment syndrome swelled up so I had to do physical therapy and undergo various medical checks. In any case, I'll be going to Indianapolis very focused and intent on picking up on the development work carried out in the first half of the championship: Indianapolis is a very particular track since it was made to be raced on in the opposite direction, but we want to continue gathering important data here as well in order to define next year's bike. I'd also like to welcome Bradl to the team: being able to count on a competitive team mate is definitely positive and I hope that together we'll be able to move forward more quickly on developing the RS-GP.”
STEFAN BRADL
“I can't wait to get to Indianapolis and start this new, great adventure. It obviously won't be easy at the beginning. I'll need to get used to a new team and a new bike, so my main goal in this first Grand Prix is to begin getting to know my mechanics and familiarising myself with the way the bike performs. As for my injured right wrist, the situation is good: I am very pleased because my hand is no longer giving me problems and lately I have been able to do the same training programme that I did before my injury. During the summer break the healing process went well and on Monday the doctors gave me the all-clear to race at Indy. Recently I have also been Motocross training to check my sensations on a bike. I still don't know how I'll feel astride a MotoGP bike, but I think that by the time I arrive at Indianapolis I'll already be close to 100% fitness.”
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Noale, 1 August 2015 - Twenty-five year old German rider Stefan Bradl, 2011 Moto2 World Champion, will take part in the remaining nine 2015 MotoGP World Championship races astride the second Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia RS-GP alongside Alvaro Bautista.
Bradl will make his first appearance on the Aprilia RS-GP at the Indianapolis Grand Prix scheduled from 7 to 9 August.
Born in the Bavarian city of Augusta on 29 November 1989, Stefan Bradl made his debut in World Championship Motorycle racing in the 125cc category in 2005. In 2008 he took two wins and finished the season fourth in the overall standings. In 2010 he moved to Moto2, a category where he would be crowned World Champion the following year thanks to four wins. His rookie year in MotoGP came in 2012 astride a Honda, a bike that Bradl raced for another two seasons, taking a second place finish in the 2013 United States Grand Prix as his best result. This season Bradl has participated in the first eight Grand Prix races on the calendar astride the Forward Racing team Open class Yamaha, earning nine points. A fractured scaphoid in his right wrist suffered during the Dutch GP at Assen forced him to miss his home race at Sachsenring on 12 July.
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Bautista starts working straight away on his race setup, improving from one session to the next. Laverty sizes up his Aprilia RS-GP
Sachsenring (Germany), 10 July 2015 - MotoGP kicks off the second half of the season on the twisting German Sachsenring circuit. Alvaro Bauitista and Michael Laverty took on the first day of free practice with different intentions. If the German weekend is another stop along the Aprilia V4 development path for Alvaro, for Laverty it was, first and foremost, the time to gain confidence with the bike - which he already knows well, since he has been working as a test team rider - in race configuration.
A sliding crash this morning complicated things for Bautista who, fresh from surgery on his right forearm right after the Assen race, was bothered a bit by the injury. In the afternoon the Spanish Aprilia Racing Team Gresini rider in any case was able to get back onto the track, lapping on the same tyres with the clear intention of getting the bike set up for the race on Sunday, but also managing to shave almost 6 tenths of a second off his time from the morning session. Laverty showed consistent progress in FP1 but changing bikes slowed him up in the second session. In the end Bautista closed out the day with the 18th best combined time at 1’23,286. Laverty had the 24th time with 1’24,446.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“Another day of testing and hard work fine tuning. Alvaro was looking good going into turns and riding through them, but we still need to improve traction, so we need to work on improving grip in that condition. Laverty came out of the morning practice session satisfied, ending with the 23rd best time. However, in the afternoon he had to change the bike he had used in FP1, which is the one he felt better on, and with the other one he had a chattering problem that kept him from improving further.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“We are doing a lot of tests on the bike, as usual, but Alvaro, despite the crash which slowed him down this morning, is already in line with our expectations. Tomorrow we would still like to take a step forward because I think that we can really do well on this track. Laverty had a good day of practice and he started off working well with the team.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“This morning I took a spill on turn 11. The problem is that the spot where I had surgery on my arm last week opened up a bit.. But in the afternoon I was still able to ride. We used the same tyre for the entire session in order to find a good setting. Our most important goal is to improve grip at the rear. I need to feel the tyre more on the tarmac.”
MICHAEL LAVERTY
“In FP1 I felt very comfortable in the saddle every time I went out onto the track and in fact I did my best time in the last run. In the afternoon unfortunately I was only able to get one clean run in at the end of the session so I wasn't able to improve. In general I've got a good feeling with the bike. There's room for improvement in terms of grip. Today I tried the rear suspension link like the one Alvaro uses briefly and it seems to make things a bit better, so tomorrow I'll try it on both bikes.”
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