Smith’s return from injury “much better” than expected

When he crashed in practice for the Oschersleben 8H endurance race ahead of the British GP, it seemed unlikely that Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) would be back on track and scoring points in the flyaways – but that’s exactly what the Brit has achieved, three races in a row. With a long period of recovery missing three races and undergoing two different surgeries, Smith started slow on Friday in Motegi – unsure if he would even be able to race – and has since made more and more progress, most recently navigating the tough conditions on race day in Sepang to another points finish in fourteenth as top Brit.

Next stop: Valencia, and Smith's final race with Tech 3 ahead of his move to KTM for 2017.

Bradley Smith (P14): "I have to start by saying that the three back to back races have been fantastic and I am more than satisfied with the results. To come back from my injury and score three point scoring finishes is much better than what I was expecting. If we look at the bigger picture, the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team did a superb job as well as the Clinica Mobile medical staff who made sure that I could compete in every session. In terms of the race, it certainly was tough due to the conditions but we have to be content with another finish in the points, even if we were hoping for more. I decided to risk using the hard rear tyre but it is not a compound that I have liked in the past, even though my feeling with it in FP4 was ok on the whole. Unfortunately, with the amount of water that was on the track, I wasn’t able to generate the right temperature into the rear tyre so it was tricky but I did my best and I don’t think that I could have given any more. It’s a pity to end up in 14th because we’ve had really good pace throughout the weekend, yet we have to look at the positives and take them onboard. Now, we will have a weekend off and then I will head to Valencia, ready for my final appearance with the Tech3 team, where I will do my absolute best."