Bradley Smith pleased with testing performance in Sepang
Friday 27 February 2015 18:06, UK
Bradley Smith continued his preparations for the upcoming MotoGP season by finishing sixth after testing in Sepang.
The British rider has been getting to grips with his 2015 specification Yamaha YZR-M1 over the three days and clocked a best time of 1’59.883 on his ninth lap in Malaysia.
Smith slashed off almost a second and a half from his opening performance on Monday and was only two tenth's back from third position.
The 24-year-old Oxford man is confident he can hold his own when the campaign begins in Qatar at the end of March.
"It was a good final day for me, especially to finish in the top six,” Smith told MotoGP.com. “The team and I had more or less completed all of our test plans yesterday, but there were a few small things we needed to try today with the electronics and the clutch.
“So we tested three different ideas, with two of them being definitely an improvement. It’s these little changes that can make a different in the race.
“I am pleased to say that I did a 1’59 lap time, which was my objective for this test and it’s positive that I could achieve this.
“The bike now has a very good base setup, so next we will go to Qatar which is a completely different track and see if we can use the base setup we made here, at Losail.
“All in all, it was a good test. We’re close to being the top satellite bike but Cal is a bit faster, however, our pace has been competitive and I am happy with the job the team and I have done here."
