Monster Yamaha’s Bradley Smith went into today’s second qualifying session using a setup he hadn’t tested before but it was good enough for him to bag a second second-row in succession and he will start directly behind reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez at Brno tomorrow.
The British rider is a row in front of team-mate Pol Espargaro, who had to come through qualifying one, and feels he had plenty of pace for tomorrow’s race. Smith looks likely to again be a battle with Andrea Iannone, who sits to one side of him, and with Andrea Dovizioso who is on the other side.
“In FP4 we tried various different settings and some were positive and others were not as good but the team made a combination of these and in the end I went out on a bike in Q2 with a setting which I hadn’t ridden yet. It was a bit risky, but it turned out to be a good choice by the team and I have to thank them for their great work,” said Smith.
“I am only half a second from the pole time and again, I was fighting with the Factory Yamaha for the front row, and so I have to be happy. The top five riders were a big step above the other guys on the single lap pace, however I’m sure it will be different in the race.
“The important thing tomorrow will be to get a good start as it will be a long, tough one and so, tyre management is vital. We will try to make some small improvements tonight, especially for tyre preservation and I will test them tomorrow morning. However, I’m pretty sure that we have the right bike to do a good job.”
