Stefan Bradl - Photo Credit: LCR Honda
Stefan Bradl was ecstatic after finishing fifth in just his fourth MotoGP race at Le Mans in torrential conditions. The German pushed Dani Pedrosa for much of the race and took the chequered flag just three seconds behind the factory Honda rider.
Bradl did come under pressure late on from Nicky Hayden but held on to claim a result that even he was surprised with.
“This is a fantastic feeling! I am very happy and the whole Team is happy too: this makes me very proud. Honestly I think nobody was expecting such a good result in my fourth race in this class. In general the weekend was tough because we were struggling a lot in finding the right set up for the dry sessions and I also had a big crash in yesterday's qualifying. Finally it rained before the race and I knew we had a good package on the wet.”
“Already on my sighting lap I could feel that was my WOW bike and my first lap was amazing as after the first split I was holding the 7th position. After that I rode behind Pedrosa for a long time who has got a very precise riding style. I learnt very much from him. When it started to dry up I could ride with more confidence adapting to the situation even if Hayden was trying to catch me.”
