Called at short notice to replace Franco Morbidelli during the German Grand Prix, Stefan Bradl, official Honda test driver, qualified in 21st position, 1,6 seconds behind poleman Marc Márquez, before crossing the line finishing 16th, 38 seconds behind the Honda leader.
We could consider this as a refresher after leaving the Grands Prix at the end of 2016, having successively moved from the LCR Honda team to Forward Racing (Yamaha) before joining Aprilia.
In Brno, the German driver will have his own Honda RC 213 V nicely decorated in HRC colors, which he should also find in Misano and Motegi.
His best result in the premier category is a 2nd place at Laguna Seca in 2013, for the man who was Moto2 world champion in 2011.
Stefan bradl: “we will be the trial team. Our task will be to show the performance we achieved in the last two tests. We're not testing crazy new things here, just the usual test pieces. For me, this wild card is like a gift. Here I can estimate what riding level I am at, with a competitive bike. I can find where my personal level is. I want to see where I can finish on Sunday. I can not wait to be there. »
Another wildcard in the lands of Moravia, Sylvain Guintoli, just back from the Suzuka 8 hours.
After a first wildcard in Barcelona where he qualified 25th before falling on the 3rd lap of the race, the former Superbike world champion does not seem in any way dulled by this frenetic pace and is on the contrary impatient to put into practice the latest developments of the Hamamatsu firm carried out on the GSX-RR, on the circuit which saw it debut in the premier category in 2002, on the occasion of a wild card carried out for the Tech 3 team.
The French pilot spoke to the site MotoGP.com: “I have just returned from Japan where I spent the equivalent of a month, between preparations for the Suzuka 8 Hours and these two days of MotoGP testing in Motegi. The race started well... We led a few laps, we were in third position after the first hour. Unfortunately a latecomer took me off the track, which led to a small fall. But we fought and we managed to come back from 60th place, to reach the Top 10. Here I am back in Europe. I am delighted to be back on the MotoGP grid and this superb Brno track. Suzuki is doing a very good job in terms of development. I'm really looking forward to seeing what's new this weekend. »
