MotoGP: Smith out to turn around season at Austria

Bradley Smith says he’s out this weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix to turn around his season, after a difficult start to 2016 so far for the Tech 3 Yamaha racer.

Coming after a long three week summer break not interrupted by the Suzuka 8 Hour this year, the Oxfordshire man says it’s time now to do what he did back in 2014 and kickstart his year at long last.

“The three-week break was nice for me and although I had some time to wind down, it wasn’t for very long as I trained hard to be ready to get back to where I need to be in the second half of the season. This year has been tough at times, yet

“I am confident that I can turn it around, just like I did in 2014, and close my final year with the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team in a positive way. I am certain that our good fortune will start in Austria and even though I think it will be very tight in the race, I am highly motivated for the battle.”

He also finally got the chance to test at the Red Bull Ring on a race bike last week, riding the Yamaha Austria endurance R1 at the track after missing last month’s test.

“I have done a lot of preparation for this track and with the fast flowing corners, it will be fun to ride on my Yamaha YZR-M1. The GP will be long with 28 laps, but I am excited to sample the track on my MotoGP bike after sampling the layout on a Yamaha R1 recently.”