Smith confident over title chances
Added on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Smith - leading the standings after five rounds.
British 125 championship hope Bradley Smith is keeping his feet on the ground despite an outstanding start to the season.
The 18-year-old leapt to the top of the 125cc class championship after winning in difficult conditions at Mugello on Sunday, leading Spaniard Julian Simon by 3.5 points in the standings.
Sunday’s win was Smith’s second of the season following his superb 13.524sec victory at Jerez in what is his first season with the factory-backed Aspar Aprilia team.
And Smith, one of four Brits on the 125 entry list (although Haojue rider Matthew Hoyle has yet to qualify for a race so far this season), is remaining confident over his title prospects even f he faces some stiff competition from the likes of Simon and Italian Andrea Iannone, who was forced to retire out of Sunday’s GP.
“The first race win in Spain felt great and this one did too but it was a lot more difficult,” he told MotoGP.com. “I had to push at 100% all the way through the race and sometimes I was on the limit, but that is necessary to win a World Championship race. I have to say congratulations to Julián and Nico because they rode so fast and they pushed me all the way until the final lap.”
“To win here at Mugello is fantastic and it is especially nice for my mechanics as they are Italian. Now we need to go to Montmeló and work as hard as we have done all season. We cannot get carried away, we start from zero there and if we can arrive in the race at the same position as today that’s fantastic.
“We have a good feeling, a good set-up at the moment and I just hope this form can continue in Catalunya and that we can have another fantastic battle with all these great riders there.”
