MotoGP: Lost knee slider costs Smith the chance to fight

Bradley Smith was left unable to push as hard as he believed that he was capable of during Sunday’s German MotoGP race at Sachsenring, after an opening lap collision with Yonny Hernandez left him struggling for the first half of the race.

“It goes without saying that it was a tough grand prix, but I did the best that I could in what was a tricky day of racing for me. On the opening lap, Hernandez hit me and knocked off my left knee slider. This would have been an issue in the dry, but in the wet, where the sliders are thicker, it was even more of a challenge. I made the call to pit and change to the bike with the intermediate tyres at the correct moment. Yet, we also had to put a new knee slider on in the pit lane and this had a knock-on effect.

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And while he was able to run a strong pace after switching bikes – something he says is one of the positives to take from the weekend – the damage was already done for hm.

“When I returned to the track, we had already lost a lot of time so it was damage limitation and I recovered a couple of places. It was a frustrating end to the weekend because the team deserve more than three points and of course I want to be fighting for the top independent position. However, one positive that we can take away from this weekend is that I had good pace on the intermediate tyres and I was one of the faster guys for a period.

But while the frustration is obvious for Smith, the Brit is keen to get away from the pressure over MotoGP’s summer break – and plans to come back fighting strong.

“At the moment, we can’t seem to catch a lucky break, but I am fit and healthy as we go into the summer break so I will stay positive. I will work hard in the next three weeks in order to come back much stronger and therefore, be ready for the second half of the season.”

 

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