Seventh row start for Smith at sun-soaked Gran Premio Red Bull de España

Posted on May 05, 2018 by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Temperatures crept up after a cool start to the traditional Spanish fixture at the short, narrow and demanding Jerez circuit in Andalucía. Bradley Smith and Mika Kallio were riding a updated version of the KTM RC16 that both #44 and #38 will test at the same track on Monday and Tuesday). All three riders tried their best to make the Q1 ‘cut’ but completed a busy afternoon of work and experimentation.

Bradley Smith (Factory Rider MotoGP):
“We tried to do everything we could. It is a matter of seeing what we learn in the race tomorrow but also the test on Monday and where that next step can come from. We’ve even tried riding differently with someone carrying more corner speed and the other braking deeper…but the lap-time seems to be the lap-time. At this level, especially with one lap, that's where we are struggling. Hopefully the race tomorrow is more consistent and we have the chance to get some more positions. I have seen on-track where the bike handles better so we need to be more patient and try and stay in the hunt.”

Sebastian Risse (Technical Director MotoGP):
“We started the Grand Prix with a big highlight in FP1 and this was an awesome result and pretty outstanding from what we have done so far. Although we could not maintain that level I think we are in a better position that what we held in the previous races this year in that we understand the tyres, the track and what we want. We have been making progress. Overall our status after qualification is not that bad and I hope we can improve tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how these tyres last over the race distance. We know a soft tyre will not last but it depends on how the riders handle the others. We’ll see what the race brings.”

Races: May 6, 2018 – Moto3 11:00 | Moto2 12:20 | MotoGP 14:00 | Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup 16:30 CET