Monster Yamaha's Bradley Smith is keen to eliminate errors at Le Mans' first corner which have cost him time in the opening MotoGP free practice sessions - including one that saw him almost reach the end of the long gravel trap.
The British rider managed to knock 1.5s off his laptime over the course of today and says that he now understands where the limit is but needs to work on his braking markers in tomorrow's third session.
“Today was a good first day in Le Mans. I started to feel a lot more confident this afternoon compared to this morning because there was extra grip on track thanks to the higher track temperature. We found almost 1.5s and that’s really positive," said Smith.
"I like this circuit a lot, especially with a MotoGP bike and the differences compared to a smaller bike seem to be not that big compared to the other tracks I have experienced so far. I just have to understand the different braking points like in the first corner where I’ve already made three mistakes so far. But now I think I understood where the limit is.
"But it was a good day and we are closer than usual to the top after day one and I really feel confident with the new chassis, especially on new tyres, so we will work hard tonight and hopefully go straight into the second qualifying session tomorrow.”