Smith delighted with home podium
Added on Monday, June 21st, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Smith delighted with home podium
Bradley Smith declared himself delighted at securing a home podium finish at Silverstone yesterday, with the 19-year-old hoping that the result could kick-start his season.
Smith put in a strong performance at Silverstone and whilst he could not break the dominance of Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez, he successfully held of teammate Nicolas Terol for his first top three of the season.
The Oxfordshire rider, who has never made the rostrum at a British Grand Prix, has struggled to live up to the high standards set last season, was understandably pleased to take to the step in front of 70,000+ British fans and later admitted that he hoped this result would help him kick-start his title challenge.
“I am delighted because I had a fantastic feeling with the bike for the entire race,” he claimed.
“I was strong early on and tried to squeeze everything out of the bike in order to get up front. I admit that on the last few laps I was riding beyond my limit, but that is the way one has to work in order to get on the podium.
“The Spanish riders are in great form at the moment, and it is difficult to beat them. Getting a home podium is fantastic, and I have to thank the team for their work over the weekend because they and Aprilia got me here.
“I am very happy with a first rostrum of the year, especially here at home.
“After five races we are back to the same level as last year, but we can’t drop our guard because we have two back-to-back races coming up and have to continue picking up points for the title fight.”
