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 2^nd. 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 21^st on the 11^th 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 9^th 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 21^st to 2^nd. The result closes a hugely successful weekend for Smith who now moves back up to 5^th 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 12^th on the grid to 9^th, 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 5^th as a third of the race distance was covered. He was then shuffled back one place and ran in 6^th 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.

“I am thrilled with this finish as I feel that I earned it today even though it was a big gamble! It was very difficult to make the right decisions in the race and I tried to make a few calculations in my head. I looked at the sky before it started and I said to myself that if it rains, it will only be for a short while and I hoped it would dry quickly. However, I still didn't know how the new surface would be in the wet. My decision to stay out was initially because I missed the lap when Jorge and Vale pitted so I carried on and I believed that the rain had slowed down slightly. At this point, I already had lost a lot of time, therefore I thought it would be best to wait a few laps and see what happens and when it stopped I knew the gamble could work as I realised that they might have to pit twice. Furthermore, I kept saying to myself that luck favours the brave which motivated me even further and here I am! My race position kept going up and to finally come home in 2nd is very special. This result is one of my greatest and it's a truly emotional moment. In Phillip Island I just finished the race and got the podium but here I had to ride really smoothly and with skill as well as talent in these conditions. We have to take opportunities like these because as a satellite team we work really hard for 5th or 6th every race, but the rostrum is just out of reach. So, I'm even more delighted to give this finish to the team and the sponsors and I can't wait to get back out on track at the next round.”

Profil 

Position : DNF

"I can't hide my disappointment at how the weekend finished after it looked promising from the early stages and yet again, the weather complicated my race. Of course, I didn't have any experience on this resurfaced track in the wet conditions so everything was a bit uncertain and to be honest, there were moments in the GP where I couldn't see if line was dry or wet. In addition, at one point I was slightly confused about which position I was in as there was no one in front or behind me. I stayed out on the wet tyres for a while as I didn't want to come back in and change to slicks in those ever changing conditions because it could have started raining again. So, I thought this was the best thing to do, but at the end of the day it was a lottery and this time, it didn't go my way. Yet, when I did eventually pit, I returned to the track and I had an issue which caused me to retire. So it was clearly a frustrating end to this weekend even though I was on the pace when it was dry, just like at Silverstone. I started the day well and this morning I finished the warm up in 5th, but then the rain came which prevented me from racing the GP how I wanted to. However, I must say congratulations to Bradley who did a really good job and I just hope that in Aragon, the conditions will be the same for the entire weekend and we can have a normal and uninterrupted race. ”

Profil 

"What a fantastic way to end a great weekend with this super result for Brad and the team. Like everyone on the grid I was praying for a dry race after the difficult time we had in Silverstone. The man up there didn't listen to me, which I thought was bad at the time! Brad had a good start but we were a bit nervous as the rain kept falling. Everyone pitted except Bradley and at one stage I thought he was brave but the weather got worse and then he was losing more than 10 seconds a lap. Yet, fortunately the rain stopped at the right moment and from there, he showed incredible determination and understood that today he had to take the risk. Anyway, it was a good race with not many crashes, so firstly, I must say thanks to Brad who was very courageous and I must also give him a massive congratulations as he more than deserved that podium. After this and last year's result, hopefully there is one more step for him to climb. Yet, the weekend has been bittersweet as Pol had a tricky time. He had a great start and pitted at the right time just like everyone else, plus he was up to 6th for the majority of the race. He then came into the pits but once he jumped on the dry bike, he started to encounter some technical issues which prevented him from finishing the race. I feel very sorry for him as he was clearly competitive all weekend long. Even though he didn't complete the race, he was fast and must not blame himself. If Brad can fight for podiums then Pol can too, so he needs to keep the motivation and the positive spirit high and let's go to Aragon full of energy."

Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Bradley Smith made it four second row starts in as many consecutive races today after a superbly executed performance in qualifying. The British star began proceedings on day two by closing the FP3 session in 7^th position and was able to comfortably progress through to Q2 after continuing his efforts in adjusting the setup of the Yamaha YZR-M1. Smith and his Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team carried on their work together in the FP4 session ahead of QP2 which left the 24 year old rider confident for the qualifying assault. When the 15 minute shootout started, he bolted into action aboard the Yamaha YZR-M1. After building up his speed, Smith powered to a best time of 1'32.801 on his 6^th lap which, when the chequered flag fell, equalled a start on the rear of the second row tomorrow. In addition, this time saw him finish as the leading satellite rider. The Briton will now be seeking to have a strong start and fight as close possible to the leading factory MotoGP bikes in order to add to another positive collection of points to his world championship tally.

On the other hand, Pol Espargaro suffered misfortune after falling shortly after beginning the qualifying two session and will start from the fourth row of the grid tomorrow for the 13th round of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship. The Spaniard kicked off his qualifying day at the 4.2 kilometre circuit by producing a best time of 1'33.012 in this morning's practice which left him 9th and straight through to QP2 in the afternoon. Here the 24 year old focused and pulled out of the pit lane, determined to secure a solid grid position for the 28 lap sprint tomorrow. Espargaro completed a time of 1'33.222 on his first flying lap but whilst improving on the following run, he unfortunately fell at the 10^th corner of the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Unluckily, despite the bike still being in a good condition to ride, Espargaro and the marshals were not able to restart it so time ran out for the 2013 Moto2 World Champion. Yet, his best lap will see him begin the battle from the rear of the fourth row, plus his time was only four tenths back from his teammate. Nevertheless Espargaro, who is known for his excellent starts, will intend to launch forward tomorrow and jump through the pack and back into the fight for the top six.

“I have to be really pleased with the job that we undertook today as we reached our target of the second row again. That is really important here due to the layout of the circuit. Tomorrow, it will be crucial to get a good start and I'm actually on the inside of the track on the run into the first corner, which is a positive place to be. We improved the bike a lot in-between FP4 and qualifying and I know we can build on this even more in the morning's warm up, so I feel really optimistic about improving my feeling further in terms race pace. It's going to be a difficult GP mainly because it's so easy to lose the front and we have seen this happened to many riders so far this weekend. So it will be key to be very careful with both ends of the bike and the most important thing is that I must remain consistent and smooth. However, I'm truly confident with the YZR-M1 and with my tyre choice so I am ready to do battle for a strong finish.”

Profil 

Position : 12^th

"I can't say too much about the qualifying but obviously, right now I feel frustrated with what has happened, because it has been an unlucky day. Just like yesterday, I felt comfortable with the bike today and we had a good set up from the first free practice. We tried some modifications on the bike following the analysis we did last night and they worked more or less ok, although we still have some margin of improvement to make as we are not where I think we could be at a track like this, especially considering that I have felt strong from the word go. Afterwards, in the FP4, we had a technical issue with one bike, so I had to come back to the box and go out on the other one. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to fix the bike and my team still needs to find out what was wrong. So, I had to face Q2 with just one bike and then the worst thing happened. I did one first lap and when I was in my second flying one I had a small crash. When I was falling, I already knew how stupid the crash was, so once I got up, I tried to start the bike again because it was just slightly damaged, but it was impossible. It's a real pity because we were doing a good job this weekend, plus I felt strong and able to have a good race. With this mishap I will have to start from the rear of the fourth row on the grid, so I will have to do really well in the beginning, but I still think I have a good pace which I need in order to achieve a solid result tomorrow and I hope I can show it. ”

Profil 

Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Pol Espargaro matched the sunshine to begin the 13^th round of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship brightly with a firm finish of 6^th on day one at Misano. The 24 year old got straight to work in FP1 under perfect weather conditions at the recently resurfaced 4.2 kilometre Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli as he took the first steps in adjusting the setup of his Yamaha YZR-M1. The Spaniard showed his determination as he relentlessly completed a total of 24 laps in the morning session, which was more than any other MotoGP rider and set a best time of 1'34.094 on his 18^th lap. When the afternoon practice got underway, the 2013 Moto2 World Champion continued his efforts as he fully intends to further his positive streak in the last few MotoGP weekends. He pushed onwards in the session before speeding to a best lap of 1'33.552 at the end of the practice and this time was less than three tenths from third position. Tomorrow, he will seek to utilise the strong start and then build on it in order to confidently battle his way to a top qualifying position in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Bradley Smith leapt into action on the opening day at Misano and began his San Marino Grand Prix challenge with a solid performance to seize 8^th as he looks to fight to another top six result this weekend. When the morning session began, the British rider wasted no time in analysing the resurfaced track as he made the initial adjustments to his MotoGP bike in preparation for Sunday's race. The Briton dug deep and after completing 18 laps, his best was 1'34.266 which left him in 8th and fully primed for the afternoon session. After undertaking continuous progress throughout FP2 with the setup of his Yamaha YZR-M1, Smith ultimately shot across the finish line with a best lap of 1'33.595 that saw him complete the day in 8^th, plus, his performance was just a blink of an eye behind his teammate by a mere 0.042 of a second. With today ending positively for the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider, he now focuses on extending his recent notable record tomorrow, as he has qualified no lower than 6^th in the last three races.

Position : 6^th

"Today was a positive opening to our Misano account. I felt good when I jumped on my M1 and went out on track so we have been competitive as soon as the wheels turned today. We still had to face a few issues but we were able to get around these and with the setup up that we had on the second bike, we found a solution. Nevertheless, we can see that with the lap times improving, there are some areas that we will need to adjust and enhance for qualifying. At the moment I have one bike that works well in certain areas and the other one is great for the remaining aspects so all we need to do now is find the perfect mix between the two in order to be able to have a strong performance tomorrow. I definitely want to give my compliments to the Misano World Circuit for the new surface because there is an obvious improvement and itÕs a pleasure to ride on. ”

Profil 

“It was a good start overall today here in Misano and there are plenty of positives to think about tonight. One of the main plus points is that the Yamaha YZR-M1's are strong here even though we were the only manufacturer who missed the test here earlier this year. I must admit that I was a bit nervous about this, but having said that, after the performances from Vale and Jorge last year we knew that our bike would be competitive. Today we tried all three front tyre options and both of the rear compounds and now we have a clear indication of which direction we want to head towards for the rest of this weekend. The front of the bike is the most critical area at this track due to the nature of the circuit and the hard braking, therefore the front compound choice will be vital for the race. In addition, we need to continue our work as there is a compromise to be made between braking stability and turning of the bike. Yet overall, the new surface is an improvement and not quite the step up that everyone was talking about but for sure it's a lot better for performance and for the safety of riders, which is the most important point. For tomorrow, I hope to continue this positive form and clinch a top grid position for the race on Sunday.”

Profil