Bradley Smith declared himself satisfied after finishing 11th in a tightly contested afternoon session ahead of tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix.

The Oxfordshire star opened the first practice at the Phillip Island circuit by riding to eighth in the morning under sunny conditions at the coastal track.

He completed second practice with a personal fastest lap of 1mins 30.313secs, a steady improvement of over three tenths of a second from the morning, and just 0.359secs off fifth place.

“Overall, the first day has been quite constructive for me,” said Smith ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying sessions.

“We were able to try the new Bridgestone tyre which is available here and they’ve done a good job, as it looks like it will last the full race.

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“However, it does require a slightly different set-up, so we’ve been trying to understand exactly what it needs.

“Yet, in general I am pleased with what we have achieved.

“I was consistent, but unfortunately I finished in 11th as it was a close session, so tomorrow we will look to improve straight away in order to get straight into Q2.

“My aim is to ride a 1.29 lap time, so with a bit more improvement I am confident that I can qualify well.”

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