Monster Yamaha’s Bradley Smith can once again fully concentrate on his racing, after the rider finally signed a one year contract extension with his Tech 3 team, but he admitted that he found the recent uncertainty over his job ‘challenging’ and ‘emotional,’ and is understandably relieved.
But with his future for the next twelve months sorted he was able to use the bumpy Silverstone track to his advantage, and with his Motocross background he was not fazed by the circuit. That was evident today as he put down the third fastest time in the second MotoGP free practice session this afternoon.
“The next thing for me is that [the contract] it is done, signed sealed and the last few rounds have been quite challenging for me. It has been emotional trying to deal with that kind of talk as at the end of the day this is my job and this is my passion and it is nice to be in a situation that everything is clear and it is a big boost, and I am trying to keep the momentum going,” said Smith at the track.
Smith, who’s currently the leading satellite rider set a 2’02.371 and was able to shave two seconds off his FP1 lap today. He was only one of seven riders who were able to reach the 2’02’s. Now the aim for the Brit on Saturday is to keep up his race-pace and stay within the top ten fastest times.
Smith said: “A lot of it came down to the track and it improved and rubbed in and cleaned up a bit because this morning with really green and track temperature helped. We made some small changes, including
rear springs and the normal kind of balance, and a lot came from the track. If you are five percent off it makes a huge difference, but it is nice to be in third position.”
“Friday is always good for me at the moment, we are quite quickly up to pace and I am not scared to risk a bit more than other guys on a Friday. It is going to be tough to stay in this position tomorrow but we are starting from a good point.
“With FP3 you have to take it with a pinch of salt because it is so cold in the morning, but I think FP4 will give us an indication of what we want to do, but we need to stay inside the top ten.
“The bumps are quite bad going into Copse and there’s a nasty one going into Stowe and the braking point going into Vale Chicane, it is not ideal on the track. But it is not bad for me as I come from a Motocross background.”
