"During qualifying today I tried to concentrate
on myself. I wanted pole and I want to win the
race tomorrow , now I feel so free on the bike,
I'm just enjoying my racing. I'll try to win
tomorrow and then we'll celebrate the best we
can. Everyone knows that Formula 1 is very
popular in Germany, because we have some big
talents like Sebastian Vettel and Michael
Schumacher, but I know that all these guys follow
MotoGP and they are really excited about this. I
think there will be some big parties and celebrations in Germany tonight!"
"I'm just very, very happy and I want to say
thank you to everyone: to my team, my sponsors
and my father. It is 20 years since my father
finished second in the 250 World Championship and
now in my opinion he is also a World Champion. He
has been the biggest part of my life, he has
supported me from the start and my whole family have been behind me."
Bradl was the dominating force from the start of
the 2011 season, winning the season-opening Qatar
GP and following that with three more wins at the
next five events aboard his CBR600-powered Kalex.
By the time he had scored his fourth victory at
Silverstone in June, many people were already
calling him World Champion, but Bradl refused to
believe the hype. He was right to do so, for
young rookie Marquez was coming on strong by
then.
The Spaniard won six of the next seven
races to take the championship lead in Japan, but
lost it again in Australia. An unlucky accident
during the first practice session at Sepang,
where Marquez crashed on a wet section of track
that hadn't been flagged by marshals ruled him
out of the final two GPs. That left Bradl to
secure the title before the start of the final race.
"It's been a difficult year sometimes, leading
the championship by a long way isn't easy,
because it's always in the back of your mind. We
were good in every race, more or less, but Moto2
is so close that sometimes you just want to go
away on your own and ride a good race.
"After I lost the points lead at Motegi I knew it
was going to be very difficult. I just told
myself to never give up and to give it
everything. Then the championship changed again
in Malaysia. I'm sorry for Marc's crash and I
give him my congratulations for a great rookie
season. He won more races, but I was more
consistent because I got more points."
Bradl got his first big break in racing when he
was given a ride in the 2003 German ADAC Red Bull
Rookies Cup. He finished seventh in that series,
then moved into the national 125 championship. He
was crowned 125 German Champion in 2005, when he
also made his 125 GP debut at the Catalan GP.
He
rode his first full GP campaign in 2006, but his
rookie season was spoiled by a freak accident
that left him with a badly broken right leg that
brought him close to quitting.
He made a
determined comeback and won the first of his two
125 victories at the Czech GP during the 2008
season, which he finished fourth overall. Bradl
graduated to the new Moto2 class last season and
won his first success in the category at the
penultimate race of the year in Portugal. He
completed the year in ninth position.
