Stefan Bradl had the upper hand over
Nicky Hayden in their personal battle for seventh place in the second round of the
MotoGP World Championship at
Jerez in Spain.
The German rookie went head to head with Ducati star Hayden in the closing stages of the 27-lap race and narrowly prevailed on his LCR Honda.
Bradl, who qualified in ninth position, reflected on a 'difficult' weekend in Spain when poor weather was a factor during qualifying in particular, but the reigning Moto2 champion was more than happy with his performance in the race.
“I am very happy with this result. First of all I think it was a difficult weekend for everybody due to the weather conditions so I want to thank the whole team for their great job,” said Bradl.
“During the sighting lap I was very nervous because I thought that the last part of the track was wet so I changed my helmet visor and everything was clearer.
"I was capable to attack my competitors since the beginning of the race but I found it a bit risky so I waited a little bit and after some laps I was fighting with Bautista and [Nicky] Hayden.
“We were doing well but Hayden blocked me a little bit in the middle of the race and Bautista got away from us. When he was gone I started my fight with Nicky which I enjoyed very much especially in the last two laps,” he added.
“I got some problems with my right arm because it was sore in the middle of the race and this cost me a bit of time because I had to force the bike in a different way.
“Basically this was another positive week end for me and I really enjoyed the applause the team made for me when I was back at the garage.”