MotoGP Aragon: Aprilia finishes in full top 10 ahead of Dovizioso's official Ducati

Alvaro Bautista Stefan Bradl MotoGP 2016 Gp Aragon Team Aprilia Gresini – A day to remember for Aprila which closed the season for the first time with both riders, Baptist e Bradl in the top 10, 9th and 10th respectively, also finishing ahead of Dovizioso's official Ducati. The race, which saw Bradl start from twelfth place and Alvaro from fourteenth, started off well immediately for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders, capable of gaining positions in the early stages. In the following laps, the pace of Bautista and Bradl emerged, doing well at maintaining interesting times while their direct rivals complained of an increasingly marked drop in performance. During the seventh lap Alvaro overtook his teammate, chasing the pair of Pol Espargaró and Andrea Dovizioso. He engaged in a close battle with the driver from Forlì, emerging victorious and taking a good ninth place. Behind him, Stefan Bradl continued his progression, gaining tenth position.

“A good weekend for us, concluded with a double top-10 – said Alvaro Bautista – I had good sensations on the bike during all the tests, we worked well and in FP4, when I had a consistent pace even with used tyres, I understood that we could do well in the race. I fought with Hernandez and Dovi, managing to overtake them, and I followed Pol whose times were very similar to mine. We maintained a good pace, I could see that we continued to catch up with the group that was fighting for fifth position but towards the end of the race I lost a bit of feeling with the rear tyre. However, ninth place is a great result, for me and for Aprilia, also considering Stefan's performance. We have certainly taken a step forward since Misano, thanks to the team and the guys working at home, now we continue on this path to finish the season well."

“I'm happy with the top-10 and the weekend in general – concluded Stefan Bradl – We grew during the tests, I hope we can continue this trend in the races ahead. We have made a step forward in terms of chassis since the Misano race, especially improving the braking phase and allowing me to have a better feeling with the front tyre. Here we managed to improve further, having found a good base already on Friday and then going on to work on the details. Obviously we can still improve, in the use of the rear tire for example, to be faster with new tyre, but we are not far off. Now I expect a lot from the season finale."