Smith left frustrated by opening 125cc contest

The start to Bradley Smith’s 2008 campaign was a disaster in Qatar as he finished 16th having qualified on pole, but the 2009 season has not started ideally for the young Englishman either.

Joining the highly competitive Bancaja Aspar team for his fourth season in the World Championship big things are expected of the teenager from Oxfordshire this year and having put himself second on the grid at the Losail International Circuit, after a good preseason, everything was in place for a podium charge.

However, the elements intervened. After Smith had made a poor start and slipped to eighth on lap one he was running fifth when the red flags came out due to rain and as the precipitation only got heavier the 125cc riders were not permitted to return to the track and half points were awarded to the top fifteen – as relating to their positions at the point of the interruption.

“I was quite disappointed because partly because my start to the race was not good, but also because it was such a strange race,” lamented Smith. “I think it would have been better to cancel the race than to stop it after just four laps, but the decision was made and there is nothing more we can do.”

Keeping his chin up, he went on to say, “We have to see the bright side of things though because I’m only seven and a half points down on the leader of the championship. Now we just have to focus on going to Japan and getting a good result at Motegi, where we hope there will be a full race so we can go at our maximum level.”