Only a crash by Bradl in Q1, in the last part of his lap and while he was ahead of the rest, kept Aprilia from the one-two lead in the first qualifying session, which would translate into two bikes going through to Q2, after the RS-GP machines proved to be fast and consistent in all of the practice sessions. The fourth and fifth row on the grid for Bautista and Bradl will therefore be their starting positions for what promises to be an exciting race.
In the two practice sessions ahead of qualifying, the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders focused on race pace, taking a lot of laps on used tyres and looking for solutions to take the best advantage of the bike-tyres package for the 24-lap race distance on the Japanese track.
Alvaro Bautista, who crashed without any consequences in FP3, responded by taking the ninth best time in FP4, just over eight tenths from the top time, and standing out for his consistent performance. Therefore, both riders participated in the first qualifying session, putting good lap times on the sheets straight away. After returning to the garage to change tyres, Bautista and Bradl continued their outstanding performance: Alvaro put the best time on the sheets (an excellent 1’45,614) to go through to Q2, whereas Stefan crashed just a few turns from the end as he was about to achieve the best time. Q2 proved to be unlucky for Bautista, who immediately had a less than optimum feeling with the front tyre, crashing on turn 9 during his first flying lap. This means that the Spaniard will start from the fourth row with the twelfth best time, just ahead of his teammate.
Their understandable disappointment is accompanied by confidence because of what Stefan and Alvaro have demonstrated throughout the weekend: constant growth that confirms the progress the Aprilia RS-GP has shown in the past few championship rounds.
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