BRADLEY Smith says he accepts the dangers involved in racing which have been brought home by several tragic incidents in the past fortnight.

The MotoGP community have been hit by the death of Moto2 rider Luis Salom following a crash in practice at Barcelona.

It was followed last week by the grim news of five fatalities in the Isle of Man TT races.

Smith went the whole of last season without crashing during a race, but knows the margins can be wafer thin.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider, from Forest Hill, was at the Circuit de Catalunya when Salom fell.

Writing in his column for the Oxford Mail, Smith acknowledged some may question the decision to carry on, but explained it was all part of being a rider.

He said: “I’m sure some people just can’t understand after the tragedy of Luis Salom’s crash on Friday afternoon in Barcelona how we could all go out for practice sessions on Saturday morning.

“With Luis’s parents wanting the Grand Prix to continue it was an easy choice to make, because as racers this is what we love to do.

“We all accept the risks and nobody decided that risk was not worth taking on Saturday.

“Nobody was forced to go out, but everybody did.

“We acknowledge you can pay the ultimate price and it took the terrible tragedy of Luis’s crash to remind us.

“However, we are passionate about the sport and it’s what we live for.”

Smith has been riding in the elite class and its support series for a decade.

He was a Moto2 rider five years ago when Marco Simoncelli was killed in a MotoGP crash at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.

While extremely tough to take, Smith is in no doubt the sport is a safer place to be now, compared to when he started out.

It includes improvements in medical care and the flexibility to change track layouts, which saw organisers Dorna use a lower speed chicane at the point Salom crashed.

He said: “These incredibly sad moments reinforce just how dangerous this sport is and how crucial it is to pay attention to every detail.

“Luis received immediate treatment trackside from the quick response medical car, ambulance and the air ambulance.

“The willingness to change the track lay-out in Barcelona was crucial because it needed to be done.

“The unfortunate scenario is we will never be able to make this sport 100 per cent safe and these risks will always exist because of the speed.

“We have taken some enormous steps forward in the last decade, but as always we will continue to do more.”