AN APOLOGETIC Bradley Smith rued a poor start in the French MotoGP but was proud to deliver another morale-boosting result.

The 26-year-old, from Forest Hill, finished 13th at Le Mans, just behind Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Pol Espargaro.

Smith qualified tenth, his highest grid placing this season, but a poor start saw him lose a number of places.

He did settle into a rhythm, however, and picked up more points for the Austrian team.

Smith said: “First of all. I have to apologise to the team as my start wasn’t the best one and I ran off track three times so I definitely left a few seconds out on track.

“Over the weekend as a whole we took the opportunities with both hands going straight through to QP2 which was obviously the highlight.

“Overall we must be proud of ourselves and we will keep on improving.”