BRADL TAKES A SPOT ON THE FIFTH ROW WITH THE BEST APRILIA QUALIFYING OF THE SEASON. SEVENTH ROW FOR ALVARO BAUTISTA
Silverstone (UK), 29 August 2015 - The Aprilia Racing Team Gresini had good qualifying sessions at Silverstone on the decisive day that defines the starting grid for the race tomorrow.
With the 14th best time (fourth in QP1), Stefan Bradl rode his RS-GP to the centre spot on the fifth row. This is the best qualifying placement thus far in the Aprilia RS-GP's rookie season.
After some intense work on race pace in FP3 and FP4, Bautista and Bradl took on the qualifiers with different states of mind. The Spaniard was more confident with his pace and Stefan was more aware of his room for improvement in the race. But on his flying lap the German put forth his best effort and took a great placement in 2’02,657.
Bautista, who secured the 20th best time (tenth in QP1 with 2’02,908), took a spot on the seventh row, but he is optimistic about his performance over race distance.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“The best qualifiers of the year tells us that we are improving and that we have two excellent riders. Stefan is particularly strong on his flying lap but if the RS-GP, with its lab-bike limits, is set up the way we managed to have it today, it performs very well. Alvaro's pace in FP4 is also very positive. After some difficult practice sessions the guys did a great job on the bikes, managing to restore the riders' confidence. Every day of good work, like the ones we've had here, and the solutions to the problems that we are finding little by little, are gems of knowledge that are accumulating as we go. It could be a very interesting race for us tomorrow, in the hopes that the weather stays dry like it has been so far this weekend.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“A great performance. With Bradl we achieved our best result of the season in qualifiers and Bautista's times are also encouraging, not far off Stefan's. I think this is a sign that our hard work is bearing fruit and that we are taking steps forward. Now we want to confirm this progress in the race tomorrow as well. We'll try to improve our pace over race distance and repeat the result we achieved at Brno, with both our bikes finishing in the points.”