Jerez MotoGP: Bradley Smith claims fantastic fourth

Bradley Smith put up a brilliant podium fight in yesterday’s rain-hit Jerez Moto2 race as the British rider continued his outstanding start to the 2011 world championship campaign.

The Oxfordshire defied his lack of experience od riding a Moto2 bike in the rain to lead on the first lap after he made an aggressive start from the second row.
He was quickly passed by Simone Corsi and Thomas Luthi but continued a brilliant early charge to remain in the top three until lap seven when eventual winner Andrea Iannone came by.

With Luthi and Iannone breaking away at the front, Smith continued to exert intense pressure on Corsi for the final podium place with ten laps remaining before he became engaged in an exciting fight for fourth with Stefan Bradl.

The 20-year-old dropped to fifth on lap 18 but refused to let Qatar Moto2 race winner Bradl pull away and when the German made a mistake on the penultimate lap, Smith was on hand to pounce. He then produced a controlled display of aggressive riding to prevent Bradl fighting back to finish fourth and move into sixth position in the overall rankings.

Smith was ecstatic with his latest display and he said: “I thought ninth was a great result in Qatar, so fourth just feels fantastic. The step we made with the set-up in the wet conditions from the Warm-up was huge and I felt much more confident in the race. In those conditions you need to concentrate so hard that the race feels like a lifetime but I just decided to attack from the start was a bit shocked to lead. I felt comfortable though because it’s not the first time I’ve been at the front of a Grand Prix. I realised pretty quickly I didn’t have anything for Luthi and Iannone when they came by but that’s down to my inexperience and a bit of confidence to push like they were in the rain. If I could run the race again though I’m sure I could have stayed with Corsi and battled closer for the podium. I just lost my rhythm a little bit at about two-thirds distance after a couple of big moments and I got a bit tense and that doesn’t help you ride fast in the rain. It was great to fight with Bradl and once he came by I relaxed a little bit and picked up my pace again. When he made that late mistake I just decided to attack and push as hard as I could and fourth is an amazing result when you consider how tough this class is and how difficult the conditions were. I’ve still got a lot to learn to be fighting closer for the podium but I’ll take this fourth with both hands and look forward to the next race in Estoril with a lot of confidence and optimism.”

See the April 6 issue of MCN available on Wednesday for nine pages of in-depth coverage from a dramatic Spanish Grand Prix.