Bradley Smith enjoyed another positive day in his increasingly impressive rookie Moto2 campaign after qualifying on the front row for tomorrow's Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.
The Briton secured back-to-back podiums in wet conditions and revelled in them again today, holding provisional pole for a long spell before losing out to Marc Marquez and Alex de Angelis.
Despite missing out on pole, Smith was delighted with a place on the front row and added that his familiarity with wet conditions may have proven an advantage.
“Obviously I am very happy with this result for myself and the Tech 3 Racing Team as we have already proven we have great feeling in the wet in the last couple of races. I guess growing up in the UK has helped me in that respect because we have to ride in those conditions a lot. But to be on the front row for the first time considering how difficult the conditions were, I’m really pleased and it has been a positive day.”
The Tech 3 rider admitted he may have made a strategic error in letting a queue of riders through towards the end, but was relieved to see it not cost him anything.
“At the end of the session it started to dry and the track felt very greasy and then all of a sudden, the last three laps the grip came again and Andrea (Iannone) and a couple of other guys got behind me. I didn’t want to give them a tow on the last lap, so I rolled off. And that was almost a big mistake because they still had two laps on me.”
Looking forward to the race, Smith believes he will have to keep polesitter Marc Marquez in sight if he is to have any hopes of victory. The Spaniard has been quickest in the dry and in the wet this weekend and Smith sees him as the major threat.
“Third position is still a great starting position and the first five laps will be very important tomorrow. I need to try and get a really good start and put my head down and try to go as hard as possible. It will be important to try and follow Marquez in the beginning and then we will see what happens.”
