Tense Bradley Smith relaxes to take vital top six

Bradley Smith overcame a tentative start in yesterday’s Indianapolis MotoGP round to claim a priceless top six that will do his chances of keeping a prized YZR-M1 seat at Tech 3 Yamaha in 2015 no harm at all.

The Oxfordshire rider’s future has been the subject of much speculation after a disappointing first half to the current campaign.

But he delivered one of his best performances of the season just when he needed it the most to remind Tech 3 boss Herve Poncharal he is still a serious candidate to remain as teammate to Pol Espargaro next season.

Smith produced a brilliant fight back in the second half of the 27-lap race to finish less than two seconds behind reigning Moto2 world champion Espargaro.

At times in the latter stages of the race only dominant reigning world champion Marc Marquez, who stormed to a record 10th successive victory, was bettering his lap times.

Smith eventually claimed only his second top six finish of the season and he told MCN: “I rode a little bit tense. I got a good start but nearly wiped myself out with Pol at the second corner and nearly went over the bars.

“He hit his brother (Aleix) and then bounced back and hit me. He was a bit of a pinball in there but I think he nearly hit Dani (Pedrosa) and let go of the brake and ran into Aleix. It was a racing incident but I hit his silencer pretty bad, so I think he was lucky to carry on without any problems.

“But I rode far too tense for the first 10 laps and I think it was a little bit of everything with the trickier conditions on the front tyre and all that is going on. Then I just loosened up and started riding 33s and felt confident when the bike came to me.

“I got a bit lucky with Aleix and Stefan coming together because that opened up the road for me but to catch Dovi like I did and to start reeling in Pol at the end is positive signs.

“The potential is there but more than anything I needed a result. The nice thing is everyone is happy with the result and there is room for improvement. We finished sixth and that is not going to happen every weekend.

“I got the sixth fastest lap in the race but I need to work on the weakness, which is the first 10 laps. I think relieving some pressure with a result is going to help.”