BRADL TO APRILIA, FORWARD RACING
FUTURE UNCERTAIN
F
ormer Moto2 champion
Stefan Bradl will make his
Aprilia debut at the upcoming
round at Indianapolis on August
9. Bradl secured an "amicable"
release from his contract with
the beleaguered Athina Forward
Racing team, after the arrest of
team owner Giovanni Cuzari on
his return to Switzerland from
the German Grand Prix just over
two weeks ago.
The much rumored move was
made official over the weekend
by the Gresini-run Aprilia team
(short by one rider after releas-
ing Marco Melandri before the
German Grand Prix) that Bradl
will join Alvaro Bautista on the
factory Aprilia RS-GP for the
remainder of the season.
Speaking from Germany,
Bradl said: "I would very much
like to race at Indy—my scaphoid
has healed, and I am fit again."
He broke the bone in his right
wrist at Assen, missing his home
Grand Prix as a result.
Cuzari is in custody in Luga-
no, Switzerland, facing charges
of money laundering, tax eva-
sion and corruption, with a
Swiss tax inspector, Libero Galli,
also under arrest for the latter
offences.
The Forward squad—running
two riders in MotoGP and two in
Moto2—has confirmed that they
will miss the next Grand Prix at
Indianapolis, with grave doubts
hanging over participation for
the rest of the season.
Forward confirmed the
agreement to split with Bradl on
Friday, but the team's debacle
has Grand Prix rookie Loris Baz
in MotoGP, Simone Corsi and
Lorenzo Baldassari in Moto2,
and some 40 team staff in limbo.
In the longer term, the MotoGP
team's envied contract with
IN
THE
WIND
P22
Stefan Bradl (center) moves to Aprilia,
as the Forward Racing squad's future
is still unknown following the arrest of
boss Giovanni Cuzari (left).
