Monster Yamaha’s Bradley Smith found himself in a scrap with reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez and the factory Ducati of Andrea Iannone, netted sixth place at Le Mans but said he could have done with a medium-compound front tyre.

The Oxfordshire copper-top believes that with a harder Bridgestone, he probably could have tried to pass Iannone but just didn’t have the confidence to stick in a move that was safe.

“It was interesting. I have to admit that at times I thought I was going to be fifth between Marquez and Iannone. I think if I had passed Iannone I would have been able to make it stick. It was definitely entertaining. I didn’t quite have what I needed to get to the factory boys,” said Smith, speaking at the track.

“I was battling with the reigning world champion and a factory Ducati so I have to be happy with that. Everyone’s expectations were high after qualifying and warm-up, but the track temperature affected us more than other riders.”

Smith used some forks and electronics setting that he had used at the Jerez test which boosted his performance in practice but weren’t so useful in the race.

“The Jerez test was important for me, we did find something with the forks, which helped us up until the race. As with anything, you are going to find a limit and when you have the extra soft and soft tyres, we could have done with a medium here for my bike. I have to be happy with everything.”