Cracked rim ends promising race for Smith

A cracked rear wheel was the cause of the end of a promising weekend for Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rider Bradley Smith, who was forced to pit for a new back wheel while battling for sixth in his home race.
 
“I was jumping out of my seat to be able to follow like I did and pass people like Pedrosa. Everything seemed to be going good, I set my fastest lap time on my first flyer, and then all of a sudden I felt the rear drop.  I thought initially it was just temperature, but it got slowly worse and worse.”
 
“Eventually I was having big moments and nearly crashing pretty much every corner. When I came into the pits the guys discovered we had got a cracked rim. Normally we run about 1.8 bar pressure on track, and by the time I came in it was 0.6 bar – we’d lost a lot of air.”
 
Despite yet another DNF, he local rider – Smith hails a stones throw from Silverstone – says he’s not totally dejected with his weekend’s results, and the fact that the issue wasn’t his fault has buoyed his confidence as he looks to rebuild from a torrid string of results.
 
“I’ve nailed the beginning of the race this weekend though, and for me that’s a big thing. I was right there in the first five laps, and that’s the first time I’ve ever been able to do that. Hopefully now something will change with our fortunes!”
 
“I can’t be frustrated with stuff that’s out of my hands though, and everything that’s gone wrong is out of my control. The things I control are going the right way, and we’re continuing to move forward as a team, improve as a team, and be more competitive.”