Stefan Bradl looks set to race in this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix less than a week after fracturing his right ankle in Malaysia. The German suffered the injury in qualifying when his foot became caught in some dislodged astroturf and looked set to miss the remaining races in Asia but has passed medical checks carried out by Dr. Brent May, Chief Medical Officer of the Australian circuit, and Dr. Michele Macchiagodena, the FIM Medical Director.
Bradl remains on crutches off the motorcycle (Photo Credit: LCR Honda)
Bradl, who lost sixth place in the championship to Alvaro Bautista in his absence, will face a second medical check following FP1 but the LCR Honda rider will start the weekend in high spirits.
“I am happy to be declared fit from the doctor side but for me it’s important to try the bike and see what’s going on… I still do not know if it’s painful or not. Secondly we will see how fast I can ride and, if I pass the second medical check tomorrow after the first practice, I am pretty sure that I won’t be capable to fight for the top five on Sunday. We will try to find the right balance to get an acceptable rhythm; we are lucky because this circuit has not so many right corners and this is positive but the first right corner is more than 200km/h so it won’t be easy anyway. I want to express my sincere thanks to the guys from the Clinica Mobile because they helped me a lot in the last days”.
Free Practice 1 for the Australian Grand Prix will get underway at 00:55 UK time on Friday morning. The Checkered Flag will have full coverage throughout the weekend.
