Smith triumphs in Sepang kart event

British rider Bradley Smith beat off competition from a host of MotoGP luminaries, as well as fellow 125cc riders, to win a karting event ahead of this weekend’s Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Managing to see off the challenge of Bancaja Aspar team-mate Julián Simón, who last weekend secured the 125cc World Championship title ahead of Smith in Australia, as well as his Team Aspar sporting director Gino Borsoi, Smith clocked the fastest time to finish ahead of Sandro Cortese, Raffaele de Rosa and Efren Vazquez.

Other participants included former 500cc World Champion Àlex Crivillé, Espargaró brothers Pol and Aleix – the latter of whom will race for Pramac in the premier class this weekend – and MotoGP riders Dani Pedrosa, Alex de Angelis, Mika Kallio and Marco Melandri.

It was Smith who came out on top though, and with second place in the 125cc World Championship still to secure he is focused ahead of this weekend.

“Losing the championship last week was tough, but to win this one means a lot!” said Smith. “It was good fun, and I got lucky with a couple of good karts. It was a great event to take part in; it’s competitive, and you can see all the riders were enjoying it as well.”

“If we can keep this going all through the weekend then we’ll have a successful one. Now the fun stops and the serious time begins. I’ve got second place in the championship to really focus on, and whatever happens I have to make sure I have a good race come Sunday.”