Smith commences Indianapolis challenge in 9th place

Posted on Aug 07, 2015 by Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Bradley Smith concluded the first day of action after the three week MotoGP summer break with a run to 9th position as the Indianapolis Grand Prix got underway. The British star, who fully intends to reignite his strong form from the opening nine rounds, endured a tricky start in the morning practice as he finished in 16th after suffering with the lack of track grip. Despite this, he jumped straight back onto his MotoGP bike when the afternoon session began and continued taking the necessary steps forward with his Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team by adjusting the base setting of his YZR-M1.

After completing 24 laps around the 4.2 kilometre circuit, which was more than any other MotoGP rider, Smith met the chequered flag with a time of 1’33.474, which was merely one tenth of a second behind his teammate. Tomorrow, he will carry on his assault as he aims to finish the weekend once again as the leading satellite rider.

Bradley Smith: – Position: 9th – Time: 1'33.474 – Laps: 46
"It’s been a good start to the weekend and obviously, it’s great to be back on the M1 again. I have to admit that it does feel a bit strange after riding the R1 so much during the summer break, but I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do this weekend. We began quite well and I felt good today but unfortunately on my best lap in the afternoon session, I was slowed down by a couple of riders. After the result this morning, we did not panic, because we knew that the track would improve and this afternoon I felt much better on the bike. I was able to ride a really strong and consistent pace on the hard tyre as well as on the soft compound when we tried it at the end of the session. The good thing is the consistency is there already, so now we just need to find the next step in order to go forward, but overall I am quite pleased with the performance. We are just inside the top ten which is where we need to be tomorrow morning, but I am confident that we can have a strong qualifying session, plus the track conditions will improve also. However, we will need to use tomorrow for the race setup because we probably can’t take too much information from today due to the lack of grip. Having said that, we are starting from a good base and that’s what counts for today."