Superb double top 10 finish for Aprilia in Aragon
The Aprilia Racing Team Gresini secured arguably their best dry weather result of the season after both Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl took the chequered flag inside the top 10.
The Italian manufacturer has been making noticeable progress with its RS-GP over recent races, with the San Marino Grand Prix seeing them inside QP2 for the first time. Bradl made it back-to-back races inside the second part of qualifying for Aprilia after making it through QP1 on pure pace in Aragon.
With both riders feeling good on the bike from first free practice on Friday, the team came into Sunday’s 23-lap race optimistic of a good result. Indeed, neither rider disappointed.
Bautista launched from 14th and soon found himself battling for the top 10. Passing his teammate on lap seven for 10th, the Spaniard then turned his attentions to the ailing Andrea Dovizioso, the Ducati rider suffering badly with tyre wear. Bautista engaged in a heated battle with Dovizioso and held the upper hand, ceasing ninth from him.
Dovizioso wasn’t done battling with feisty Aprilia riders either. Bradl was soon hot on his tail, and the German took 10th from him with ease in the closing stages.
Maintaining a strong pace, both riders were edging closer to Pol Espargaro in eighth but just ran into tyre troubles in the final few laps and this halted their charge. Nonetheless, a double top 10 finish in a race where attrition was incredibly low marks a hugely positive step forward for the Noale factory.
Alvaro Bautista
“A good weekend for us, ending with a double top 10. I had good sensations in the saddle throughout all the practice sessions and we did a good job. Then, in FP4, when I had a consistent pace even with used tyres, I realized that we could do well in the race. I battled with Hernandez and with Dovi, managing to overtake them, and I fell in behind Pol whose times were very similar to mine.
“We maintained a good pace and I saw that we continued to make up ground on the group that was battling for fifth place, but toward the end of the race I lost a bit of feeling with the rear tyre. In any case, ninth place is a great result for me and for Aprilia, considering Stefan’s performance as well. Since Misano we have definitely taken a step forward and I wish to thank the team and the guys who are hard at work at home. Now we will continue in this direction to finish the season well”
Stefan Bradl
“I am happy with the top 10 and the weekend in general. We improved during practice and I hope to be able to continue this trend in the coming races. We took a step forward in terms of settings from the Misano race, especially improving in the braking phase and giving me a better feeling with the front tyre.
“ We were able to further perfect things here, finding a good base straight away on Friday and then working to sort the details. Obviously, there is still room for improvement, for example in taking better advantage of the rear tyre to be faster with new tyres, but we are not far off. Now I have high expectations for myself for the season finale.”