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.

Aprilia showed its stuff today at Sepang in Superpole, the session that decides the starting order for the WSBK races tomorrow on the Malaysian track.

Torres took full advantage of the session on a qualifier tyre and rode his RSV4 RF to second place, just 27 hundredths of a second behind Sykes' pole.

With this performance Jordi, a rookie in World Superbike this year, confirms his growth, improving on his performance at Laguna Seca when, for the first time, he took a spot on the front row, but with the third best time.

Max Biaggi, the six-time World Champion, did an excellent job in his second wild card of the season. Almost three years after retiring from racing he battled valiantly, leaving many of the Championship protagonists behind and he missed a spot on the front row by just over a tenth of a second. For him this is an excellent fourth best time that places him on the second row and improves on the fifth spot on the grid that he took at Misano.

Leon Haslam was a bit farther back. The English Aprilia Racing – Red Devils team rider had been one of the main players in the last free practice session to get into Superpole, finishing in second place behind his team mate, Torres, but he was unable to exploit his tyre in the decisive session where he finished in eighth place for a spot on the third row.

Max Biaggi: “I'm pleased with the final outcome because just toward the end of the qualifiers we figured out a few things and I hope that this is the step forward we were trying to find for the races. This is a demonstration of why it is essential for me to take full advantage of every single session. My testing here, which was conducted in only one day because of the rain, cannot compare to the race weekend habits of the riders who compete throughout the entire season and are accustomed to certain automatisms. Tomorrow I hope to ride two nice races. I want to stay with the leaders and that is why starting well will be important.”

Jordi Torres: “This morning we did very well and we worked on my RSV4 with a race tyre because we are quite worried about wear, which is the aspect where we still need to make progress and we'll use the warm up session to improve. I am feeling much better with the qualifier tyre now, thanks to increasing experience and in Superpole we pushed well. Maybe I needed be just a bit fiercer to do even better. Now we'll just wait for the races tomorrow. I'm starting from an excellent position and hopefully we'll do well.”

Leon Haslam: “This morning everything went very well, but unfortunately in the afternoon, both in the last free practice and in Superpole, some problems came up that we are assessing now. We need to improve something on our race pace, but above all we need to get back the feeling I had this morning with my bike. If we can do that tomorrow I'll be able to ride two great races.”

Friday 31st July

The Metzeler team will be available at Ace Cafe London from 6pm – 11pm close, to talk tyres and show you a set of Guy Martin’s special edition Racetec RR tyres. These tyres have been forged on the tarmac of the fastest and most prestigious road races, the IOM TT.

Also, spend £5 or more over the counter at the cafe from 6pm and receive a raffle ticket to win some Metzeler goodies, plus pairs of tickets at attend the cafe’s Elvis Tribute Night.

Draw to be held at 10pm.

www.metzeler.co.uk

For more information about what’s on at the Ace, check out the scrolling calendar on: www.ace-cafe-london.com

The first Shelsley Bike Festival, brought to you by the organisers of the established Prescott Bike Festival, will take place at the historic Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb, Worcestershire, WR6 6RP on Sunday 13 September – just 20 minutes from the M5. A great day out for all motorcyclists and their families and all to raise funds for the Blood Bike charities.

There are lots to see and do:

Ride: the oldest continually running motorsport track in the world, the same one that Stirling Moss started his career and Guy Martin practiced on. Limited entries at just £35 so best to book now.

See: Get up close and personal with over 100 historic, modern and factory race bikes in our Paddock Special area. Stunning examples to get your attention! Lunchtime interviews in the Paddock with the riders and their bikes. Plus Club stands, Motorcycle manufacturers and more.

Do: Run the Hill with our unique Passenger Experiences. Try a racing sidecar outfit, the Morgan Three Wheeler, a Grinnall Trike or Scorpion and a Watsonian Squire Sidecar Outfit.

Buy: End of season bargains featuring the Blade Motorcycles Outlet Centre. Plus lots of trade stands!

Meet: Three times British Superbike Champion John Reynolds; Zoe Cano Motorcycle Adventurer; David Hailwood; the Scott Redding backed Team Repli-Cast UK Racing and its rising stars of Moto3, Charlie Nesbitt and Joe Thompson and top riders from Supermoto UK plus lots more! It’s not just motorcyclists either - come and meet your favourite Star Wars characters from the UK Garrison.

Hot News – the UK launch of the electric powered Morgan Three Wheeler

Plus

Live music from Josie & the Outlaw and guests

Burlesque (family friendly)

Plenty of good food, drinks and stuff for the younger kids too.

Save £5 on the Gate Price – general admission tickets are just £10 in advance.

Festival Organiser, Gordon Downie said, “We’ve built a good reputation for our Season Opener at Prescott and it seemed so natural to follow it up with a Season Closer and we are delighted to bring our Festival to Shelsley Walsh in September. Shelsley is the oldest motor sport venue in continuous use in the world and our event provides the unique opportunity for members of the public to take part and ride the historic hill climb course on their own bike. Run the Hill entries are limited, and are already selling fast, so booking early is essential”.

The Festival prides itself on its diversity, and is not just for modern bikes either, the classic marques are well represented with the likes of Bantam, AJS, BSA, Rudge, Royal Enfield, Douglas, Manxman, Ariel, Matchless and Norton to custom choppers. Whilst there are just too many to mention, here are a few to whet your appetite:-

Allen Millyard and his home-built ‘Flying Millyard’, this beast is powered by a gigantic 5.0-litre V-twin engine designed for an aeroplane!

MADMAX Race Team ‘Streetfighter’, the world’s fastest jet turbine street legal motorbike.

The experimental 1963 Norton Manx 348cc Reverse Head developed by Ray Petty and Derek Minter.

Plus the iconic 1962 BSA Rocket Gold Star 650cc (a genuine original) 1 of only 1370 built, a prototype 1927 Velocette KSS 350cc - affectionately known by enthusiasts across the world as ‘Spring-Heeled Jack’, the only one ever built at Hall Green, Birmingham 1945 and a Moto Guzzi Airone Corsa to name but a few!

Visit the Mike West Racing Paddock to see and hear an impressive array of famous and iconic race bikes.

Free parking, free motorcycle side stand puck and free helmet park for bikers

Gates Opens at: 08:30am, Track starts at: 09:30am, Festival closes at: 4:30pm.

For further information or to book advance tickets please visit: www.shelsleybikefestival.co.uk

Forget flowers and chocolates, it would appear that the surest way to woo a potential love interest is to grab the L plates and brush up on driving skills as a new survey from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) reveals the UK’s biggest first date turn-offs.

Whilst rudeness scored highest in the list, with 81% of Brits citing bad manners as the worst thing a suitor can do, driving is a three-point turn off as nearly half of the 10 worst offences happen in the car before the date has even begun.

The research found road rage to be the worst first-date faux pas for almost half (46%) of people, whilst a similar number say texting at the wheel leaves them wanting to put the brakes on the date.

Talking on a mobile whilst driving appeared at number seven in the list, grinding the gears of 44 per cent of those questioned. And it’s best to bin those crisp packets as nearly a quarter (23%) finds a dirty car unappealing.

Top 10 first date turn-offs

1. Rudeness (81%)
2. Bad personal hygiene (80%)
3. No sense of humour (70%)
4. Being self-obsessed (69%)
5. Road rage (46%)
6. Texting whilst driving (45%)
7. Talking on a mobile whilst driving (44%)
8. Bad dress sense (40%)
9. Sweaty palms (25%)
10. Dirty car (23%)

Top 10 first date turn-ons

1. Sense of humour (81%)
2. Politeness (77%)
3. Good personal hygiene (69%)
4. Good dress sense (50%)
5. Looks (44%)
6. Confidence (44%)
7. Generosity (29%)
8. Good driving skills (11%)
9. Great shoes (9%)
10. Nice car (7%)

A further one in 10 (11%) are irritated by someone who takes 15 minutes to park, whilst an eighth of Brits (13%) find overly cautious drivers who go under the speed limit off-putting.

Other turn-offs include bad personal hygiene, which causes four in five (80%) of us to lose interest, and no sense of humour which shirks nearly three quarters (70%) of singletons. Being self-obsessed (69%) and sweaty palms (25%) also scored highly in the list.

On the flipside, more than one in 10 (11%) Brits say good driving skills get their motors running on a first date – beating a nice car (7%) and great shoes (9%).

The IAM’s chief executive, Sarah Sillars said: “Bad driving not only has an impact on the safety of our roads, but can also affect your chances of romance. Being able to manoeuvre properly and drive carefully should be much higher up on peoples dating priorities.”

The research revealed that Brits pick up on the driving skills of a date – good or bad - within the first 65 seconds of getting in the car, with half picking up on their potential partner’s prowess behind the wheel in just 20 seconds.

Singles can improve their driving skills – and chances of romance – by signing up for a free IAM driving assessment worth £39 at iam.org.uk/lovedriving. See if you can improve your ‘pulling’ power today.

The IAM is the UK’s largest independent road safety charity, dedicated to improving standards and safety in driving and motorcycling. The commercial division of the IAM operates through its occupational driver training company IAM Drive & Survive. The IAM has more than 200 local volunteer groups and over 90,000 members in the UK and Ireland. It is best known for the advanced driving test and the advanced driving and motorcycling courses. Its policy and research division offers advice and expertise on road safety.