FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE IN ARGENTINA FOR BRADL AND BAUTISTA'S APRILIA RS-GP MACHINES

A particularly slippery track awaited the MotoGP riders in Argentina, especially in the first practice session held this morning. The situation improved slightly in the afternoon, allowing the teams to begin the planned schedule for the race weekend. After their début in Qatar, the Aprilia RS-GP machines are obviously making their first appearance on a brand new track, so they don't have any specific points of reference and this is a factor that made the day particularly demanding. The Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders, Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl, were in any case able to collect fundamental data for the rest of the weekend, beginning to assess the evolutions (especially in terms of the electronics) that Aprilia introduced for this race.

ALVARO BAUTISTA “The track was very slippery today and this obviously created some problems for us. We must not forget that we are taking on a different track for the first time with a new bike. We definitely need to improve, working both on the bike and trusting that grip on the track will get better. The biggest difficulties have to do with the front end. I am lacking confidence, especially toward the end of the session when the tyre begins to wear. In any case it is still extremely important for us to lap, for our development project and to get to know this bike”.

STEFAN BRADL “It was not an easy day. The conditions were less than ideal with the track quite dirty and the high temperatures. We struggled with the tyres, especially on the front, precisely because of the conditions, and apparently we weren't the only ones to have this problem. I also felt a significant difference between the two bikes I used, but I think we just need to check the data to fix that. Tomorrow I am expecting a general improvement, both in our setup and in the asphalt conditions. We'll have to wait to see what the weather is going to do. The forecast says the temperature should drop and that would be a good thing for us”.