Monthly Archives: February 2013

Bradley Smith returns to the Sepang track in Malaysia fired-up for the second MotoGP™ test of the season which starts on Tuesday. The 22 year old Oxfordshire rider had a very impressive first full MotoGP test at the 3.447 miles circuit on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur at the beginning of the month.

In three days of testing in hot humid conditions he finished a very impressive eighth fastest and was less than half a second slower than nine times World Champion Valentino Rossi. He returns on the 250 bhp Monster Tech 3 Yamaha with still a great deal to learn about riding the fast, complex machine on the Bridgestone tyres before that opening grand prix of the season in Qatar on April 7.

The Oxfordshire rider has stayed out in Malaysia between the tests and has kept fit with motocross, supermoto and cycle training in the heat. There will be one more test at Jerez in Spain after the three days in Sepang before that first race of the 18 round season.

Bradley Smith:
“Now the hard work starts to close the gap on those top riders even more. Of course I was pleased with that first test and thought it was a decent start by a rookie but I suppose I’ll show if I deserve the ride when I start mixing it with the likes of Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista. I’m having to re-learn how to ride a bike that is so incredibly fast. I feel I’m riding ten out of ten but I’m around the seven mark. I need to forget so much I learnt riding a Moto2 bike and trust the Yamaha and the Bridgestone tyres. Also the carbon brakes mean you brake so much later from a much higher speed. I can’t wait to get back out there and work with the Tech 3 team who were fantastic at the first test. I’ve kept very fit and really enjoyed the motocross, supermoto and cycling. Hopefully that hard work will pay off on Tuesday and for the next two days. Let’s hope the rain stays away and I can make the next big step in my MotoGP education.”

The British trio of Cal Crutchlow, Bradley Smith and Michael Laverty head back to Sepang in Malaysia brimming with confidence for the second MotoGP™ test of the season which starts on Tuesday.

All three British riders had a morale boosting first test at the 3.447 mile Sepang circuit at the beginning of the month and return for three more days of track time before the opening grand prix of the season in Qatar on April 7.

Isle of Man based Midlander, Crutchlow started his third season with the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team. He followed up his two podium finishes last season by finishing fifth fastest in that first test behind the factory Repsol Hondas of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez and the factory Yamahas of World Champions Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. He was just over half a second slower than Pedrosa who led the way.

Oxfordshire’s Bradley Smith had a very impressive first full MotoGP test finishing eighth fastest. Crutchlow’s Yamaha team-mate is still adjusting to the sheer speed and complexity of riding a 250 bhp MotoGP machine after two years in the Moto2™ class. He’s stayed in Malaysia between the two tests keeping fit with motocross and Supermoto training in the heat. It is important the weather stays dry for the three day test as the 22 year old needs as much track time as possible before that first grand prix.

Ulsterman Michael Laverty also had a superb test at Sepang as he prepares for his first MotoGP season riding the Paul Bird Motorsport machine. He was a very impressive 15th fastest overall and was the third fastest CRT machine behind the very experienced Aleix Espargaro and Randy de Puniet. Laverty returns to Sepang with the new British-built PBM frame and the Magneti Marelli electronics to test.

The first MotoGP test earlier in February heralded what could be a vintage MotoGP season. Two big questions were answered immediately. Nine times World Champion Valentino Rossi is back on the pace riding the factory Yamaha after those two disastrous years at Ducati. He was third fastest followed by Moto2 World Champion Marc Marquez who was right up there with the MotoGP grand prix winners from the very first morning.

It promises to be another crucial three day test. Fingers crossed the rain stays away and the riders avoid injury as that opening grand prix approaches.

Twenty year old Scott Redding leads the British charge in the first Moto2™ and Moto3™ tests of the 2013 season which start in Valencia tomorrow. He will be joined on the Moto2 grid by debutants Danny Kent and Kyle Smith while in the hugely competitive Moto3 class the very experienced Danny Webb and Scottish teenager John McPhee have their first rides of the season.

Gloucestershire-based Redding is a pre-season favourite on the Marc VDS Kalex machine after finishing fifth, including four podium finishes, last year. He is still the youngest rider ever to win a grand prix and realises what a massive season lays ahead in the 17 round championship.

“My main goal for this season is to be in the battle for the championship, and I need to start the process with two good tests in Valencia and Jerez this month, before returning to Jerez for the final test in March,” he explained before the three day test at the 2.489 miles Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. “I’ve been working hard over the winter, because I feel like I need to be prepared for the first race more than any this season. I was out in Spain for a month doing a lot of training, not just in the gym or on the bicycle, but also on my MX and Supermoto bikes. I also spent some time in Austria doing some core training and working on my mental and physical approach, just so everything is 100% when I get on the bike for the first time tomorrow.”

Kent-based Danny Webb returns for another season of grand prix racing looking for a little bit of good fortune. He rides the Suter Honda for the Ambrogio Racing team after two tough years with the Indian Mahindra team. John McPhee made a good impression when he rode in selected grands prix at the end of last season. He has been rewarded with a full time ride with Racing Team Germany on an FTR Honda.

The three days Valencia tests starts tomorrow (Tuesday) and testing will continue in Jerez next week.

Bradley Smith is ready and prepared for the biggest test of his 22 year old life when he rides the 990 cc Monster Tech 3 Yamaha M1 machine in the opening test of the 2013 MotoGP™ season at Sepang in Malaysia which starts on Tuesday.

For the first time in his whirlwind career he comes up against the legends of grand prix motorcycle racing such as Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa in the three day test at the 3.447 miles Sepang circuit.

Three times grand prix winner Smith makes his MotoGP debut at the opening round of the 18 race championship under the floodlights at the Losail International circuit in Qatar on April 7. He has only completed a few damp laps on the 2012 Yamaha M1 machine at Valencia in November. The two three day tests at Sepang and the final test at Jerez in Spain before the opening grand prix will be vital for the Oxfordshire rider who joins, Isle of Man – based Midlander, Cal Crutchlow in the French Tech 3 team.

Smith has a two year contract with the team and knows the experience gained test riding the 200 mph plus Yamaha will be a crucial part of his rookie MotoGP year.

“For the last few years I would race to the computer to check the MotoGP lap times from the Sepang test but this time it’s pretty scary because I will posting my own lap times on the screen and not watching from home,” explained Smith, who flew to Malaysia last weekend to acclimatise with the heat and humidity at the Sepang circuit. “I’m both excited and more than a little bit nervous because this a big deal for me. From the first to the last minute of the three days I have to keep my brain switched on and do the business.”

“I want to build a special relationship with the 2013 M1 Yamaha and the Tech 3 team right from the start. That means riding as many laps as possible and hopefully the rain staying away. I have so much to learn both from the bike and the team and they really whetted my appetite when I completed those few damp laps in Valencia last November. Since then I’ve been waiting for this day and it’s at last arrived. This is the most important test of my life so far and I can’t wait.”

Smith plans to stay in Malaysia before the second three day test session which starts on February 26.
Bradley is ready to take on the best

This week’s test is crucial to Bradley’s pre-season preparations

Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith get a taste of what lies ahead as they take on the best in the world in the first MotoGP™ test of the season at Sepang in Malaysia on Tuesday. The long awaited three day test throws together the MotoGP stars for the first time this season just two months before the 18 round season gets underway in Qatar on April 7.

It will be a contrasting experience for the two British Monster Tech 3 Yamaha riders around the 3.447 miles circuit. Isle of Man based Midlander, Crutchlow, embarks on his third MotoGP season after a brilliant 2012. He finished seventh in the World Championship and secured two podium finishes. This season Crutchlow looks towards more podium finishes and ultimately the first British premier class grand prix win since Barry Sheene in 1981.

Twenty two year old Smith is a MotoGP rookie after winning three 125 cc grands prix and a successful Moto 2™ career. This will be his first MotoGP test in the dry, although it can rain in Sepang and the first time the Oxfordshire rider has come up against the likes of World Champions Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.

It’s also a baptism of fire for Ulsterman Michael Laverty. He rides a MotoGP bike for the first time when he tests the Paul Bird Motorsport ART machine on Tuesday. The PBM bike with new electronics will be available for both Laverty and Yonny Hernandez to ride at the second Sepang test at the end of the month.

Massive interest will be focused on a nine times World Champion and a MotoGP rookie at the test. Italian Valentino Rossi returns to Yamaha to partner World Champion Jorge Lorenzo after two disastrous years at Ducati. Nineteen year old Spaniard Marc Marquez has already clinched both 125 and Moto2 World titles and arrives in MotoGP replacing Casey Stoner at Repsol Honda where he partners Dani Pedrosa.

Andrea Dovizioso replaces Rossi at Ducati where he joins former World Champion Nick Hayden. Former World Superbike Champion Ben Spies and Italian Moto2 star Andrea Iannone team-up at Pramac Ducati

The second MotoGP test will be at Sepang between 26th and 28th of February. The Moto2 and Moto3 classes start testing at Valencia in Spain on February 12.

Check all the latest times, news and interviews from the tests at motogp.com
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Nine times World Champion Valentino Rossi back at Yamaha

Double World Champion teenager Marc Marquez (right) joins Dani Pedrosa at Repsol Honda.

Cal Crutchlow ready to become first British premier class grand prix winner since Barry Sheene in 1981