Smith powers through the rain to finish 7th at Silverstone

[totalmotorcycle]

Smith powers through the rain to finish 7th at #Silverstone


Bradley Smith undertook a solid effort as he battled the wet conditions at the Silverstone track to finish his home Grand Prix in 7th position. The 20 lap race began in chaotic conditions, as after the race was declared dry, rain started to fall on the warm up lap which caused the start to be stopped due to a red flag being shown. All riders switched to their wet bikes and when the GP began, Smith jumped forward as the lights went out and pushed to remain with the factory MotoGP riders. At the close of the first lap, the 24 year old was running in 6th position however, one lap later he was shuffled back to 9th. Nevertheless, the young Briton remained focused and moved up two places at the close of the third lap. He was firmly in his race rhythm as he aimed to continue his climb, but he was overtaken by his teammate at the midpoint of the race and bumped back to 8th. Yet, Smith carried on fighting and with the five laps remaining, he was running in 7th position. He continued his work and after guiding his Yamaha YZR-M1 around the slippery 5.9 kilometre Silverstone circuit, he sped across the finish line in the same position.
Meanwhile on the opposite side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team pit box, Pol Espargaro suffered bad luck despite a fearless effort as he fell on the 15th lap at the British Grand Prix. The young Spaniard undertook a rocket start and muscled his way up one place to finish the first lap in 4th and running right with the factory MotoGP bikes. However, he then unfortunately slipped back to 10th on the 4th lap after making contact with another rider which caused him to run off the track. Yet, he remained focused and brilliantly powered onwards as he climbed back through the field after riding at a notable pace. He jumped past his teammate to clinch 7th on lap 10, yet his luck ran out and he fell at the third corner with less than a quarter of the race distance left to run. The 2013 Moto2 World Champion will now seek to bounce back with a strong finish at Misano in a fortnight's time.



Bradley Smith

7th / +26.717 / 20 laps

"I have to be quite pleased with the end result as the conditions were far from ideal out there today but I did my best. I was a bit nervous on the grid about riding in the damp conditions as last year we struggled when it was wet, but we've improved the bike by more than 100% in terms of performance. Here, I was on average about 1.2 seconds a lap slower than the fastest guy, whereas in Aragon last year we were further behind in terms of times, so the team have done a fantastic job in giving me a bike that I can ride more confidently in the wet. I gave my absolute all to stay with the second group in order to try to fight for a podium, but at the end of the day they just had a bit more speed than me. So, I aimed to not make any mistakes and be as consistent as possible. I tried to hold off Redding in the final laps, as I really wanted to get the top six, but unfortunately he was too strong for me today. So overall, it's a damage limitation in a way as we did the best that we could, yet I am now behind Dovizioso by 5 points in the championship standings. Therefore, it was not an ideal day, but not terrible at all either. I want to say thanks to all my fans who came out to cheer for me today and next up for us is Misano in two week's time."






Pol Espargaro

DNF / -6 laps

"It was a game of two halves as on one hand I am pleased with my performance yet at the same time I am disappointed because of the crash but we still need to look at the positives. I started the race well and I was running near the front as my rhythm was good and I was able to follow Jorge quite easily. I felt I was faster than him and I tried to overtake, but as this happened, I thought there was a chance that he could cut back across, as he ran wide. Therefore, I didn't want to cause a collision as he is a factory Yamaha rider fighting for the championship, so I took evasive action to avoid touching him. As a result, I lost several positions and a lot of time. After that, I was behind my brother and I had to refocus plus concentrate again. I made up the time to Aleix and passed him as well as my teammate but as soon as I had opened up quite a significant gap to them, I made a mistake. I unfortunately lost the rear in the entry to the third corner which prevented me from finishing the race. Despite this, we have to take the positives of the weekend because we've made some really good progress, besides the crash, and we will take this momentum with us to the next race."



Difficult race for Forward Racing at Silverstone
The British Grand Prix at Silverstone ended in the pouring rain for the riders of the Forward Racing team. Loris Baz and Claudio Corti in fact, after a race with difficult weather conditions, crossed the line in 16th and 18th place respectively.
After an excellent pole position yesterday, Baz struggled to find the right feeling with the wet setting and was forced to give up some positions just after the start. The Frenchman, who started in 15th position, passed under the checkered flag in 16th place after 20 laps, less than two seconds from the points-zone.
Little feeling with the wet set-up also for Claudio Corti, 18th on the finish line and on his maiden race in these conditions with Yamaha Forward. The Italian, 23rd on the grid, after a good start began to lose rear grip and was forced to lower his pace.



Loris Baz

16th / +1'19.310 / 20 laps

"After the great pole yesterday, it was not the race that I imagined. For the first time since the Qatar test I found myself lapping in wet conditions with a setting that I knew little and I have not had a chance get used to. At the beginning the feeling was good so I was able to stay in the group of the other Open but when the tires started to wear I had to slow down my pace and give way to my opponents."






Claudio Corti

18th / +1'58.086 / 20 laps

"It was a difficult race, affected by the weather. I never had the opportunity to ride the Yamaha Forward on a wet track and it was not easy to race with a completely new setup. I was missing rear grip and this prevented me to push as much as I wanted. We will have to exploit the data gathered today and continue to work in this direction for the next races."




2015 MotoGP United Kingdom

Silverstone 30/08/2015

race I
1 Valentino Rossi
Yamaha
ITA 46'15.617
2 Danilo Petrucci Ducati ITA 0'03.010
3 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati ITA 0'04.117
4 Jorge Lorenzo
Yamaha
ESP 0'05.726
5 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'11.132
6 Scott Redding Honda GBR 0'25.467
7 Bradley Smith
Yamaha
GBR 0'26.717
8 Andrea Iannone Ducati ITA 0'29.393
9 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki ESP 0'38.815
10 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia ESP 0'41.712
11 Maverick Viñales Suzuki ESP 0'44.776
12 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'52.489
13 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 1'11.211
14 Mike Di Meglio Ducati FRA 1'15.292
15 Alex De Angelis ART SM 1'17.863
16 Loris Baz
Yamaha
FRA 1'19.310
18 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 1'58.086


MotoGP World Standing

Rider Standings After Race 12 of 18

1. Valentino Rossi
Yamaha
ITA 236
2. Jorge Lorenzo
Yamaha
ESP 224
3. Marc Marquez Honda ESP 159
4. Andrea Iannone Ducati ITA 150
5. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati ITA 120
6. Bradley Smith
Yamaha
GBR 115
7. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 102
8. Danilo Petrucci Ducati ITA 83
9. Pol Espargaro
Yamaha
ESP 81
10. Cal Crutchlow Honda GBR 74
11. Maverick Viñales Suzuki ESP 67
12. Aleix Espargaro Suzuki ESP 60
13. Scott Redding Honda GBR 47
14. Yonny Hernandez Ducati COL 41
15. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 23
16. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia ESP 22
17. Loris Baz
Yamaha
FRA 15
26. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 0



Circuit Length:
5900
Lap Record:
2'01.941
(Daniel Pedrosa, 1-1-2013)
Fastest Lap Ever:
2'00.234
(Marc Marquez, 30-8-2015)
Last Years Winner:
Marc Marquez