Bradley Smith (motorcyclist)

Bradley Smith
Smith at Motorcycle Live 2012.
Nationality	British
Born	28 November 1990 Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Current team	Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Bike number	38
Website	www.bradley-smith.co.uk
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2013–2016 Manufacturers Yamaha Championships 0 2015 championship position 6th (181 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 55 0 2 0 0 426 Moto2 World Championship Active years 2011–2012 Manufacturers Tech 3 Championships 0 2012 championship position 9th (112 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 33 0 3 0 1 233 125cc World Championship Active years 2006–2010 Manufacturers Honda, Aprilia Championships 0 2010 championship position 4th (223 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 80 3 20 9 4 717.5

Bradley Smith (born 28 November 1990) is an English motorcycle racer, currently competing in the MotoGP World Championship. He was a regular frontrunner in the 125cc class, recording three wins, twenty podium finishes as well as nine pole positions in his five seasons in the class. Eurosport commentators Toby Moody and Julian Ryder have frequently noted his reputation for being at his best while leading races. He won the Suzuka 8 Hours in 2015 with Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Pol Espargaró.

Career

Early years

Born in Oxford, Oxfordshire,^[1] Smith's father raced in Motocross, and the family owned an open practice track. Smith got his first motocross bike aged six.^[2]

Smith applied for selection to the Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) academy for young racers, but was never chosen. He spent a year in 2004 aged 13 competing in Aprilia Superteens competition, finishing fourth behind three ACU Academy riders. In January 2005 he was asked to compete for the year in the Spanish 125cc championship as part of the MOTO GP Academy, winning the last three races ending the year 2nd just one point behind the champion.

125cc World Championship

2006

For 2006, he joined the Repsol Honda 125cc Grand Prix World Championship squad, managed by Alberto Puig finishing 19th overall and rookie of the year, with a best result of 8th place in Motegi.

2007

Remaining with the team in 2007, he took a first podium with third place at Le Mans.^[3] Nine more top-10 finishes left him 10th overall.

2008

Smith signed with the Polaris World Aprilia team for the 2008 season.^[4] He secured his first pole position at the opening round of the season at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar on 8 March,^[5] but suffered a technical problem while leading.^[6] A number of midseason injuries affected him,^[7] but he scored podium finishes at Jerez and Le Mans (after briefly leading the five-lap sprint required by a red flag for rain). He led at both Assen and Sachsenring, but finished off the podium in both. He ended the season sixth overall, with three poles and four podium finishes but no victory.

2009

Smith at the 2009 British Grand Prix.

For the 2009 season, Smith signed for Jorge Martínez's Bancaja Aspar Racing Team to continue to ride an Aprilia, alongside Julian Simon. The deal also included an option to race in 250s for the team in 2010.^[8] Smith had almost signed for the team in 2008, before signing for Polarisworld.^[9]

Smith won his first ever Grand Prix with a dominant performance at Jerez in May 2009. Smith's first Pole Position of the season came at Mugello in which he scored his second Grand Prix victory after a brilliant fight against Nicolás Terol and Julian Simon. This race put Smith in the lead of the Championship with 74.5 points, just 3.5 points ahead of Simon. However, Simon hit form and ultimately won the title. Smith finished second to his team-mate in the last three races of the season, losing the lead on the final lap in two of them. He ultimately finished as series runner-up.

2010

In August 2009, Smith stated his ambition to move up to the new Moto2 class with the Aspar team,^[10] but the team's two seats were given to Julian Simon and Mike Di Meglio instead. In November 2009, Smith agreed a deal to remain with the Aspar team in the 125cc class for 2010 alongside Nicolas Terol.^[11]

Smith was a favourite for the title in 2010, after finishing runner-up in 2009, however the year was dominated by Spanish trio Marc Márquez, Pol Espargaró and Nicolas Teról. Smith did however manage three pole positions and six podiums, including a win at the final round of the season in Valencia on the way to fourth place in championship standings.

Moto2 World Championship

2011

After the 2010 Portuguese Grand Prix, it was announced that Smith would be competing in Moto2 in 2011, racing for the Tech 3 team, alongside one of the riders that had denied him a Moto2 move a year previous, Mike Di Meglio.^[12] On 19 September 2011, it was announced that Smith had signed a three-year contract with Tech 3 that would see him remain in Moto2 in 2012, before moving to MotoGP in 2013.^[13]

Smith started his debut campaign in the Moto2 class well with seventh in his first race before following it up with a fourth-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix. Smith scored his first podium with a second-place finish in his home Grand Prix at Silverstone, and he followed it up with two third-place finishes at the next two rounds. Smith finished his début season in the class, in seventh place in the final championship standings.

2012

Smith's 2012 season was full of consistent points-scoring finishes, scoring points in all bar two races, but without a podium. His best result was a fourth-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix, and he eventually finished the season in ninth place in the final championship standings.

MotoGP World Championship

2013

Smith was promoted to the premier class aboard a Yamaha for Tech 3, with team-mate Cal Crutchlow. He concluded the season in 10th place, with 116 points, running consistently within the top ten riders in most races. His best result were a trio of sixth places obtained in the Catalan, German and Australian Grands Prix.

2014

Smith at the 2014 French Grand Prix

In 2014, Smith continued to race with Tech 3, with teammate Pol Espargaró. He finished fifth in the second round of the championship, the Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas, achieving his best result at that time. Later in the season, Smith achieved his first podium in MotoGP at Phillip Island, finishing in third place; he took advantage of late-race crashes for Cal Crutchlow and Espargaró to move into the position.^[14] He also received a penalty point from Race Direction, after he was deemed to have overtaken another rider under yellow flags.^[15]

2015

Smith alongside Valentino Rossi at the 2015 Catalan Grand Prix

Remaining with Tech 3 for the 2015 season, Smith finished each of the first twelve races in the top ten placings, with two fifth-place finishes being his best results. At the San Marino Grand Prix, Smith achieved his best MotoGP result with a second-place finish despite staying out on track on slick tyres as rain was falling – he fell as low as 21st in the race order before riding through the field.^[16] With Scott Redding finishing third, the duo became the first pair of British riders to finish on a premier class podium since Barry Sheene and Tom Herron did so at the Venezuelan Grand Prix in 1979.^[17]

Career statistics

By Seasons

Season	Class	Moto	Team	Race	Win	Pod	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd	WCh
2006	125cc	Honda RS125R	Repsol Honda	14	0	0	0	0	20	19th	–
2007	125cc	Honda RS125R	Repsol Honda	16	0	1	0	0	101	10th	–
2008	125cc	Aprilia RSA 125	Polaris World	17	0	4	3	0	150	6th	–
2009	125cc	Aprilia RSA 125	Bancaja Aspar	16	2	9	3	3	223.5	2nd	–
2010	125cc	Aprilia RSA 125	Bancaja Aspar	17	1	6	3	1	223	4th	–
2011	Moto2	Tech 3 Mistral 610	Tech 3	16	0	3	0	1	121	7th	–
2012	Moto2	Tech 3 Mistral 610	Tech 3	17	0	0	0	0	112	9th	–
2013	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Monster Tech3	18	0	0	0	0	116	10th	–
2014	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Monster Tech3	18	0	1	0	0	121	8th	–
2015	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Monster Tech3	18	0	1	0	0	181	6th	–
2016	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Monster Tech3	1	0	0	0	0	8*	8th*	–
Total				168	3	25	9	5	1376.5		–

* Season still in progress.

By class

Class	Seas	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125 cc	2006–2010	2006 Spain	2007 France	2009 Spain	80	3	20	9	4	717.5	–
Moto2	2011–2012	2011 Qatar	2011 Great Britain		33	0	3	0	1	233	–
MotoGP	2013–2016	2013 Qatar	2014 Australia		55	0	2	0	0	426	–
Total	2006 – present				168	3	25	9	5	1376.5	–

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Yr	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Pts
2006	125cc	Honda	SPA 17	QAT 22	TUR Ret	CHN 22	FRA 21	ITA 19	CAT 16	NED 16	GBR 12	GER 12	CZE	MAL	AUS 28	JPN 8	POR Ret	VAL 12			19th	20
2007	125cc	Honda	QAT 12	SPA 26	TUR 8	CHN 8	FRA 3	ITA 8	CAT 6	GBR 7	NED DNS	GER 8	CZE 13	RSM 8	POR 12	JPN Ret	AUS 16	MAL 9	VAL 8		10th	101
2008	125cc	Aprilia	QAT 16	SPA 3	POR Ret	CHN Ret	FRA 2	ITA 5	CAT 14	GBR 10	NED 5	GER 4	CZE 6	RSM 2	IND 8	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	MAL 2	VAL 4		6th	150
2009	125cc	Aprilia	QAT 5	JPN 10	SPA 1	FRA 4	ITA 1	CAT 8	NED 3	GER Ret	GBR 20	CZE 4	IND 2	RSM 3	POR 3	AUS 2	MAL 2	VAL 2			2nd	223.5
2010	125cc	Aprilia	QAT 8	SPA 4	FRA 5	ITA 4	GBR 3	NED 4	CAT 2	GER 5	CZE 6	IND Ret	RSM 4	ARA 3	JPN 3	MAL 5	AUS 5	POR 3	VAL 1		4th	223
2011	Moto2	Tech 3	QAT 9	SPA 4	POR 29	FRA 9	CAT 19	GBR 2	NED 3	ITA 3	GER Ret	CZE Ret	IND 4	RSM 6	ARA 6	JPN 7	AUS 18	MAL DNS	VAL 23		7th	121
2012	Moto2	Tech 3	QAT 9	SPA 11	POR 10	FRA 9	CAT 12	GBR 7	NED 6	GER 7	ITA 4	IND 15	CZE 8	RSM 8	ARA 5	JPN Ret	MAL 7	AUS 11	VAL 16		9th	112
2013	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT Ret	AME 12	SPA 10	FRA 9	ITA 9	CAT 6	NED 9	GER 6	USA Ret	IND 8	CZE Ret	GBR 9	RSM 11	ARA 7	MAL 7	AUS 6	JPN 8	VAL 7	10th	116
2014	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT Ret	AME 5	ARG 7	SPA 8	FRA 10	ITA Ret	CAT 10	NED 8	GER 19	IND 6	CZE 9	GBR 22	RSM 7	ARA 5	JPN 9	AUS 3	MAL 5	VAL 14	8th	121
2015	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 8	AME 6	ARG 6	SPA 8	FRA 6	ITA 5	CAT 5	NED 7	GER 6	IND 6	CZE 7	GBR 7	RSM 2	ARA 8	JPN 7	AUS 10	MAL 4	VAL 6	6th	181
2016	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 8	ARG 8	AME 17	SPA 12	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	AUT	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	12th*	20*

* Season still in progress.

References

1. Official MotoGP profile
2. Shea, Julian (26 March 2006). "Teenager Smith hits the big time". BBC News.
3. Only UK appearance for schoolboy racer Bradley Smith
4. Bradley Smith for full factory backed Aprilia 125
5. 2008 125cc Qualifying – Qatar
6. Bradley Smith column – Qatar
7. Bradley Smith almost fit – Sachsenring
8. Smith column – signing for Aspar
9. Aspar confirms Smith and Simon for 2009 125cc team
10. Bradley Smith for Moto2 in 2010
11. 125: Bradley Smith signs for 2010
12. "Smith and Di Meglio to front Tech 3 Moto2 effort next season". motogp.com. Dorna Sports. 31 October 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
13. "Smith signs Tech 3 MotoGP deal". Carole Nash (Insidebikes). 19 September 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
14. "Maiden MotoGP podium for diligent Smith". MotoGP.com (Dorna Sports). 19 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
15. "Rossi takes 82nd premier class victory in incident packed race". MotoGP.com (Dorna Sports). 19 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
16. "Smith: "Luck favours the brave"". MotoGP.com (Dorna Sports). 13 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
17. "Two Brits join Marc Marquez on the podium". BBC Sport (BBC). 13 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.

External links

• Official website
• Bradley Smith on Twitter