Smith ends 2013 on a high

Posted on Nov 13, 2013 by Monster Yamaha Tech 3

The new Monster Yamaha Tech 3 line-up of Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro enjoyed a fantastic end to 2013 today, with both producing impressive performances on the final day of MotoGP testing at the Ricardo Tormo track action in Valencia.

British rider Smith delivered the standout performance of the day by clocking a best time of 1.30.598 to finish second fastest behind new World Champion Marc Marquez.

The 22-year-old was able to experiment with different settings on a new chassis, seat unit and fuel tank package he rode for the first time yesterday and his improved feeling in the braking zone and mid-corner was reflected on the timesheets.

Smith was only 0.311s behind Marquez in second position and today’s superb display sent him into the winter break full of confidence and optimism for when the 2014 pre-season preparations resume at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia next February.

Bradley Smith: 2nd 1.30.598 35 laps
“Today was very positive and it is a great boost to go into the winter break being so far up the timesheets. I didn’t expect to be as fast as I was and to be so close to Marc is very positive. The new parts Yamaha gave me yesterday have really been a massive improvement and it has given me a lot of confidence that this package will help me be much stronger and more competitive in 2014. The bike just feels better balanced and although it was a one-off lap on a low fuel load, it gives me a great platform to take into next year. All we did today was play around with the settings on the new bike to see what happened when we made certain changes and I can’t find anything negative in the upgrades, so I am very grateful to Yamaha for supplying them to me. I have to be going this fast though because Pol is looking very strong and it is impressive to see him so fast so soon. It looks like we will be pushing each other a lot next season and that’s positive for Yamaha and Tech 3.”