Bradley Smith was satisfied with the three-day private test in Misano: “It was a good test, especially for me as a driver,” emphasized the Aprilia driver, who will replace Andrea Iannone from Jerez, pending the verdict of the International Sports Court in the case of doping CAS is pending.
“If you switch from test driver to racing driver, you have to flip a switch – mentally and physically, especially when it comes to pushing for a lap time,” explained the Brit, who was only a regular driver in the MotoE World Cup last year. «I got my time pretty quickly on the first day and it took a while to break through this wall. On the last day I understood where the limit of the motorcycle was – even if I unfortunately found the limit in the fastest corner », he referred to the crash that the 29-year-old survived unscathed.
The fall did not change the positive balance of the progress made on the RS-GP20. “We’re starting to find some things that will improve the feel and handling of the bike. The basic setting was pretty good right from the start of the project, when rolling out in Sepang and Qatar. Since then, however, I’ve been working on adapting it to myself and not just copying the others, »revealed Smith.
For the MotoGP kick-off in Spain on July 19, the Aprilia driver expects more difficult conditions than this week in Misano: “The situation will be very different in Jerez because the temperatures will be much higher. The grip was phenomenal in Misano. But we have gained knowledge and that is the most important thing for a new project. Maybe we don’t have the ultimate speed yet, but we know what helps me and the bike, and on a weekend when you don’t have time to try a lot, we have an advantage. »
In the private test, Aleix Espargaró, Smith and Co. were able to compete with the KTM stars. “I’m looking forward to starting the season with everyone else on the starting line-up,” added the Briton. «We know what Aleix, Pol and Oliveira have shown and that is the area of the top 10. It’s still half a second to find if we want to be there, it’s up to me, but it’s better than the 1.2 seconds that were still in Sepang. The backlog is getting smaller, but there is still a lot to do. »
By the way: Aleix Espargaró did a total of 183 laps in Misano over three days, recording the best time of 1: 32.932 minutes. Smith even lapped the almost four-kilometer circuit 207 times, his fastest lap time was 1: 33.536 min.
The other MotoGP teams from KTM, Ducati and Suzuki only tested on the first two days.
MotoGP times on Wednesday, June 24th
1. Miguel Oliveira, KTM, 1: 32,913
2. Pol Espargaró, KTM, 1: 33,122
3. Michele Pirro, Ducati, 1: 33.124
4. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, 1: 33,427
5. Brad Binder, KTM, 1: 33.588
6. Iker Lecuona, KTM, 1: 33,591
7. Scott Redding, Ducati, 1:33,957 (SBK)
8. Bradley Smith, Aprilia, 1:34,276
9. Sylvain Guintoli, Suzuki, 1: 34,287
10. Jonnny Rea, Kawasaki, 1: 34,381 (SBK)
MotoGP times on Tuesday, June 23
1. Pol Espargaró, KTM, 1: 33.07
2. Michele Pirro, Ducati, 1: 33.19
3. Miguel Oliveira, KTM, 1: 33,22
4. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, 1: 33.97
5. Bradley Smith, Aprilia, 1:34,00
6. Iker Lecuona, KTM, 1: 34.07
7. Brad Binder, KTM, 1: 34.41
8. Sylvain Guintoli, Suzuki, 1: 34.47
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