Stefan Bradl to stay with Aprilia

After an encouraging début this season where he familiarised himself quickly with the RS-GP, it has been confirmed that Stefan Bradl will be on the track with Aprilia in 2016 as well.

Alongside Alvaro Bautista, the twenty-five year old German rider – Moto2 world champion in 2011 – will ride the Aprilia prototype which will be raced next season with the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini.

Born in the Bavarian city of Augsburg on November 29, 1989, Stefan Bradl made his début in the 125cc class of Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing in 2005. In 2008 he had two wins and finished the season fourth in the overall standings. In 2010 he moved to Moto2, a category where he was crowned World Champion in 2011 with four wins. His rookie year in MotoGP came in 2012 astride a Honda, a bike which he would race for two more seasons, with a second place finish as his best result in the 2013 United States Grand Prix.

Next season Sam Lowes will also be participating in development of the Aprilia MotoGP prototype as a tester. With Lowes – who will be participating in the 2016  Moto2 championship with Team Gresini – working with Aprilia Racing in the medium-term projects area, the British rider will be able to both develop the MotoGP prototype and get his feet wet with the performance and technical complexity of the highest category in the championship. This will lay the groundwork for Sam Lowes' participation in the 2017 MotoGP Championship season with Aprilia.

Commenting on the announcement, team manager Fausto Gresini said: "I'm pleased that Stefan will be staying with us next season. He has contributed a lot to Aprilia Racing and the entire team in developing our MotoGP project. The work he is doing now is important and it will be even more important next season when we'll have a completely new bike to develop. This makes up a great team, with Bradl and Bautista, fast riders, young but with a lot of MotoGP experience, both able to drive the entire team to find the best possible performance."

An excited Stefan Bradl commented: "I am really thankful for the great opportunity that Aprilia Racing Team Gresini gave me in the second half of the season. I would like to thank Romano Albesiano and Fausto Gresini for believing in me. At my first Grand Prix with Aprilia in Indianapolis I immediately felt really welcome by the whole team, I cannot really describe how professional everybody works in the team.

"I can say without a doubt that Aprilia is the best team I have raced with since starting my World Championship career. I have great support from my technical crew. I could tell from the first day that they really believe in me and I like the way they prepare and plan every session. Signing for 2016 gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming races and it is great motivation to prepare for next season as best as possible. I know Aprilia has high expectations and I am confident that we have what it takes to be a consistent top ten contender for 2016. This must be our goal."