Jerez MotoGP: Smith now second in the world

“Maybe you try to picture your first win, but this is nothing like it,” Britain’s latest grand prix winner Bradley Smith said in a podium press conference only minutes after climbing from his Bancaja Aprilia at Jerez today.

But he also revealed that his crushing 13-second victory in the 125cc Spanish GP almost turned into disaster when he ran into a technical problem late in the race.

“With eight laps to go I had a problem with fifth gear,” he said. “I nearly crashed, but I managed to save it and had to work around the problem.”

He added: “From the beginning of the race the bike was perfect, and that’s why I won. I was able to do low forty-sevens right from the start.”

Smith’s race win hoists him to second place in the championship with 36.5 points, only one point behind the Italian Andrea Iannone, who crashed in today’s race.