Top 10 for Smith in Misano qualifying

Posted on Sep 15, 2012 by Tech3 Racing

Bradley Smith capitalised on the best weather of a rain-hit weekend at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli this afternoon to qualify in the top 10 for tomorrow's Moto2 race.

Yesterday's practice was badly disrupted by intermittent rain showers that hindered the Tech 3 Racing Team's early preparations.

By the time Moto2 field took to the track for the final practice this morning, a damp surface from further rain had dried and Smith could begin working on the race set-up of the Mistral 610 machine.

A fastest lap of 1.38.849 secured Smith 10th on the grid and he was only 0.607s behind Moto2 World Championship leader Marc Marquez, who secured pole position.

Smith was less than 0.3s from the top six and the British rider is optimistic he can challenge for a top six finish in tomorrow's 26-lap race.

Bradley Smith 10th 1.38.849 – 22 laps:
“It's been a better weekend so far and I am happy with the position but also the gap to the leading group has come down and that is a big positive. We have improved the bike each time I have gone out on track but like a few times this season, when we need to find a bit more pace in qualifying we are unable to do it. It seems when the rest of the field put on a new tyre they can go quite a bit faster and they have the capability to improve more than us. I'm not worried though and it should be a good race. Everyone is going to be starting the race guessing on the set-up a little bit because the weather has restricted the time we've had on a dry track. Nobody is sure how the tyre life will be ov er the race distance but everybody is in the same boat.”