The evolution of the RS-GP continues favorably, and in Aragon its two drivers were able to rank among the first ten at a reasonable distance from the winner, Alvaro Bautista finishing ninth at 23.071 after twenty-three laps and Stefan Bradl tenth at 27.898, ahead all Desmosedici engaged.
Qualifying was decent with Bradl twelfth on the grid, 1.9 behind Marc Marquez in Q2. Bautista started from the middle of the fifth row, in fourteenth position between Hector Barbera and Yonny Hernandez. The two immediately gained two places at the start of the race when the two Ducati Pramacs collided, then Bautista overtook Bradl on the eighth lap. The two Aprilias swallowed up the sinking Ducati of Dovizioso, then obtained one of the three best results for the Noale brand this year, with for the third time (after Argentina and France) the two bikes among the top ten, despite only one abandonment out of twenty starters.
It was not the best ranking of the year for Aprilia, Stefan Bradl having already finished in seventh position in Argentina. But we must put the level of performance at the time into perspective, because at Termas de Río Hondo there were 8 retirements out of 21 starters, and the German finished 41.3 behind the winner over a 20-lap race. He therefore lost two seconds per lap on the first, while Bautista in Aragon, although ninth, only lost one second per lap. The icing on the cake is that Aprilia finishes ahead of Ducati for the first time, although the ax has already not passed far once. It was in Barcelona that Andrea Dovizioso finished seventh at 41.464, ahead of Alvaro Bautista eighth at 42.975.
We will have to wait a little longer to see the wish of Roberto Colaninno, President of Aprilia, who announced in 2014: “I hope to see Aprilia ahead within two years. You will have to be patient for the first year but the podium should be possible from the second. »
To Alvaro Bautista, who are " It was a good weekend for us, ending with a double top 10. I had good feelings in all the practice sessions and we did a good job. In FP4, when I had a regular pace, even with worn tires, I understood that we could do well in the race. I fought with Hernandez and Dovi, managing to pass them, and I arrived behind Pol whose times were very similar to mine. We maintained a good pace and I saw that we continued to gain ground on the group that was fighting for fifth place. But, towards the end of the race, I lost a little feeling with the rear tire. In any case, ninth place is an excellent result for me and for Aprilia, also considering Stefan's performance. Since Misano, we have taken a step forward and I would like to thank the team and the guys who are working in the racing department in Noale. Now we will continue in this direction to finish the season well ».
“I am happy with this top 10 and this weekend in general, rejoiced Stefan bradl. We improved during testing and I hope to be able to continue this trend in the next races. We took a step forward in terms of settings during the Misano Grand Prix, especially improving the braking phase and giving me a better feeling with the front tire. We were able to perfect things here, find a good base right away on Friday and then work on the details. Obviously there is still room for improvement, for example to get more out of the rear tire in order to be faster with new tyres, but we are not far away.
The conclusion goes to the boss, Romano Albesiano, Director of the Aprilia racing department : " A great race, with two bikes in the top ten in a race without crashes. The gap behind the leader is the lowest we have ever been, which is quite encouraging. Technically, the trend is very good. This is clear both from the performance in all the testing sessions and from the atmosphere within the whole team, which naturally becomes "charged" when our potential becomes interesting. We are on a positive note, but we have to keep our feet on the ground. Our work is certainly not yet done, given our objectives. We need to improve on all fronts, but we are aware of our potential. »
