The weather had a strong impact on race Sunday at Brno. The heavy rainfall in the morning stopped a few minutes before the MotoGP start, forcing the riders to start in rain configuration, but with the possibility of a bike change during the race. There actually was an improvement in conditions, but the track maintained characteristics to allow the riders, albeit with some difficulty, to finish the race with rain tyres.
After the warm-up, the sensations in the Aprilia camp were good, as Alvaro Bautista’s eleventh best time and Stefan Bradl’s good pace demonstrated. With the track drying out and intermediate conditions, however, the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders were unable to find the right feeling. This was a situation that, with a first-season bike like the RS-GP, is to be expected when conditions are particularly unpredictable.
In any case, Stefan Bradl was back in the points at the chequered flag, thanks to his 14th place finish, whereas Alvaro Bautista (who also made a pit stop to change bikes, going back out with intermediate tyres), had to settle for sixteenth place.
Alvaro Bautista: I kept feeling like I was losing the front
“The track conditions were really tricky today. This morning during warmup in the wet, the feeling was not bad, but in the race I struggled a lot, especially in braking. I always had the feeling I was losing the front, so I wasn’t able to push, whereas coming out of corners I was losing a lot more than my rivals were. Nine laps from the end I made a pit stop to change bikes, but even with the intermediate tyres we were unable to improve our position. Now we need to leave this race behind us and focus on improving the RS-GP, getting back to our level in the next round at Silverstone”.
Stefan Bradl: Our electronics setting didn’t work
“Today we did not make any mistakes at the start and we finished the race, so we were not lacking in concentration. In any case, I am not satisfied with the way things went. In the first laps I had a good pace, managing to stay with the group, but then, when the asphalt began to dry out, our electronics setting did not work as well as it could have. The traction control limited me very much coming out of corners. It was a feeling I had in the warm-up as well and we made some changes to try and improve it, but evidently it wasn’t enough”.