Strong start for Smith in the Tuscan hills 

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Bradley Smith kicked off his Mugello campaign with a confident surge to 5th position in the combined standings on the opening day of action at the highly anticipated Gran Premio d’Italia TIM.

The British rider started the morning practice positively by clinching 8th place with a time of 1’48.349 that left him only 0.045 behind the 5th placed rider. As the sun shone down on the meandering 5.245 kilometre track throughout the day, Smith began his FP2 run with intent to continue the vital set up work with the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team.

After having successfully evaluated all of the available tyre options, the 23 year old met the chequered flag with a lap of 1’48.038. This time resulted in him seizing 5th as well as the honours of being the top satellite rider. In addition, his final time was just under two tenths of a second from third and leaves him fully primed for a successful qualifying performance tomorrow. 
   
Bradley Smith: – Position: 5th – Time: 1'48.038 – Laps: 42
"The first day has been really positive and I am pleased with how the bike feels at this circuit, which I am a big fan of. We have been fast from the word go which is a good opening to the weekend especially as we have struggled here a little bit in the past. Yet today, I was able to ride the bike exactly how I wanted to and I sampled both types of compound for the front and rear tyres, so now we have a good indication of which direction to head towards. I’m even happier as I still feel there is room for improvement as my lap was not quite perfect. Tomorrow we need to work a small amount on the balance of the bike, especially in the afternoon when the temperature increases, as this will be critical for the race on Sunday. Overall, we’re less than two tenths back from the factory Yamaha of Lorenzo, so we are in a good place, but tomorrow we need to make another step forward to get into the 1’47 lap times."