BRADLEY Smith enjoyed one of his best starts to a MotoGP race weekend in Jerez today.
The Red Bull KTM rider posted the 15th fastest time in a wet first practice session, before finishing 18th in a dry second.
Perhaps even more promising for the Austrian-based team was the lap Smith’s teammate Pol Espargaro achieved.
The Spaniard was tenth quickest, ahead of championship leader Valentino Rossi in 12th, with a time of 1min 40.573secs.
Smith, 26, from Forest Hill, who finished 16th in the Grand Prix of the Americas at Austin, Texas, a fortnight ago will be encouraged by the times.
He will only be able to draw upon the second practice session for Sunday’s race, though, as no rain is forecast for the rest of the weekend.
But the 26 laps from today provide the newly-launched team with more valuable track data.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa topped both sessions, while teammate and world champion Marc Marquez notably struggled, setting only the 14th fastest time on the combined sheets.
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