MotoGP: Bradl lands new ride with Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
Stefan Bradl has signed for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini for the rest of the 2015 MotoGP season.
The 25-year-old German rider, who won the Moto2 World Championship in 2011, will take part in the remaining nine 2015 MotoGP World Championship races astride the second Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia RS-GP alongside Alvaro Bautista. Bradl will make his first appearance on the Aprilia RS-GP at the Indianapolis Grand Prix scheduled from Aug. 7-9.
Bradl made his debut in World Championship motorcycle racing in the 125cc category in 2005. In 2008 he took two wins and finished the season fourth in the overall standings. In 2010 he moved to Moto2, a category where he would be crowned world champion the following year thanks to four wins.
His rookie year in MotoGP came in 2012 astride a Honda, a bike that Bradl raced for another two seasons, taking a second place finish in the 2013 United States Grand Prix as his best result. This season, Bradl has participated in the first eight Grand Prix races on the calendar astride the Forward Racing team Open class Yamaha and is currently 19th in the standings with nine points. A fractured scaphoid in his right wrist suffered during the Dutch GP at Assen forced him to miss his home race at the Sachsenring on July 12, but after using the summer break to recover he is now ready to race at the Indianapolis GP.
Bradl replaces Michael Laverty, who had stepped in to ride for the German GP after the team had parted ways with Marco Melandri, after being released from his Forward Racing contract. Laverty will return to his duties as the official test rider for the team.