Smith confident for Brickyard battle

Posted on Aug 17, 2013 by Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Bradley Smith is confident he has the speed to battle for a top position in tomorrow’s MotoGP race at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Rookie Smith’s outstanding qualifying form continued in hot conditions this afternoon, the 22-year-old securing a top 10 position on the grid for the fourth consecutive race.

Smith, who starts tomorrow’s race looking to move into the top 10 in the World Championship standings, set a best time of 1.39.255 that at one stage looked set to secure him a place on the second row for only the second time this season.

Today’s result though further underlined Smith’s growing experience and confidence with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machinery and he was able claim the notable scalps of Stefan Bradl and Valentino Rossi’s in this afternoon's 15-minute session. 

Bradley Smith 7th 1.39.255 – 8 laps
“I am happy to be on the third row because we made a really good improvement with the bike today. I did my best lap on my own and then I tried to follow Cal to improve a bit more but I made a small mistake. We’ve done a great job improving my feeling with a full fuel tank and this gives me a lot of confidence for the race, particularly in the first eight laps. I will be looking to make a good start and seeing what I can learn from those guys in front of me. Being precise and consistent is also going to be crucial at this track. It is easy to run off and if you do get off line it is very dirty, so making the least number of mistakes as possible will be crucial.”