Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Bradley Smith delivered an exceptional performance in front of 92,315 people to clinch the second MotoGP rostrum of his career after conquering the Misano race in 2nd. The young Briton started from the second row after a successful qualifying campaign yesterday. However, moments before the beginning of the 28 lap sprint rain began to fall at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli and shortly after the lights went out, the weather deteriorated which prompted riders to change bikes in the first quarter of the GP. Yet, after finishing the opening lap in 6th place, Smith took the brave decision to remain out on the track with slick tyres in the wet whilst every other rider pitted. As the race progressed he dropped back to 21st on the 11th lap, but his choice to remain out on the track paid dividends when the rain stopped falling and the circuit began to dry quickly. Here, the young British rider rocketed through the field and back into 9th position with ten laps remaining as the rest of the riders changed back to their dry bikes. Smith continued to improve his speed consistently and furthered his ascent before expertly moving into a podium position on lap 20. Shortly afterwards, he moved up one position and eventually sped across the finish line in this placement after having made the climb from 21st to 2nd. The result closes a hugely successful weekend for Smith who now moves back up to 5th in the world championship standings after the expertly calculated ride.
On the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team garage, Pol Espargaro endured a tricky GP and was hugely unfortunate as he failed to finish the eventful race in San Marino. After undertaking a good start which saw him climb up three places from 12th on the grid to 9th, Espargaro battled to move further through the pack, yet as the rain began to fall, he took the decision to pit on lap seven. After re-joining the Grand Prix, the 24 year old moved further up the field and reached 5th as a third of the race distance was covered. He was then shuffled back one place and ran in 6th place for an extended period. However, with the weather having improved, he took the decision to pit again with eight laps to go. Espargaro then re-joined the GP yet suffered technical issues shortly after, which caused him to retire on the last lap. Yet, he will seek to bounce back with a strong result at the next event at Aragon in his home country.
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