PROMISING FEELING FOR ALVARO BAUTISTA AND STEFAN BRADL
It was a very positive first day of practice for Aprilia at Sepang. On the Malaysian track, the RS-GP machines ridden by Bautista and Bradl proved to be competitive straight away, despite the changing weather conditions and the lack of experience on the new asphalt.
In FP1, held on a perfectly dry track, Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl focused mainly on getting to know the layout without making too many changes in terms of settings and tyres. The initial feedback was good, with Alvaro ninth (2'02.011), just 8 tenths from the leader and Stefan eleventh with 2'02.164.
More positive signs arrived for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini in FP2, which began on a damp track with conditions improving during the session. Bautista showed his stuff straight away, staying solidly in the top positions and then finishing with the eleventh best time at 2'12.179. Bradl started off more cautiously, progressing consistently until finishing with the eighth best time thanks to the 2'10.283 he put on the sheets in the final stage of the session when he went out with intermediate tyres.