Smith: “I think we’ve done a good job for the engineers”

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider’s thoughts on the Sepang test

Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) is positive after the first Official Test of 2018. Doing the most laps of anyone on the third and final day after teammate Pol Espargaro was forced to sit Tuesday out following a crash, Smith says it was a hard day’s work as he took on more of the workload.

“Day 1 and Day 2 seemed to go very well,” begins the Brit. “Unfortunately with my teammate getting injured it meant I had to do all the work on Tuesday so it was a very busy day. So I had to sacrifice going for a laptime a little bit, and work more for the project. But I’m pleased with the first three days, we learned a lot and I got up to speed quickly, which made me happy. Tuesday was one of those tricky days where the track conditions weren’t quite as good, but I think in general we managed to get through most of the test program and we’ve done a good job for the engineers.”

Bradley Smith, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Sepang MotoGP™ Official Test

Part of that test program was a new aero-fairing, but Smith says it was only one part of many despite the headlines – and not giving too much away on his thoughts.

“We had a lot of new things to try and the fairing was just one of the pieces we need to evaluate, trying to learn as much info as we possibly can,” states the KTM rider. “It’s just the first prototype so it’s a case of the guys analysing all the data, and then we’ll decide if it’s something we’ll continue to run and try in Thailand.”

Thailand is the stage for the next test at the new venue in Buriram – when Espargaro should be back on track, too, and KTM will have another three days to work on catching the frontrunners.