MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix: Bradley Smith has big ambitions and insists 'the best is yet to come'

Being one of only two riders to finish with points in every single race last season, go on to win the Suzuka 8-hour in Japan, stand on the MotoGP podium, finish 6th in the world championship and win the top satellite-rider position, Bradley Smith still says ‘the best is yet to come’

Tech 3 Yamaha rider Bradley Smith (Getty Images)

After the four-month winter break Bradley Smith can’t wait to get back on his Yamaha M1 this weekend when the 2016 MotoGP World Championship kicks off in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

“2015 was a fantastic season for me undoubtedly. I’m very proud of what I achieved and it came from a lot of hard work from me and from the team” says the Oxfordshire-born pro-racer.

Signing with Tech 3 again for 2016 maintains familiarity within the team and Smith knows the Yamaha motorcycle inside out. Now in his fourth season of the premiere class, he strongly believes they can do it again and more.

Also returning to the Tech 3 pitbox is Pol Espargaro, an extremely fast and very motivated team-mate to keep Smith on his toes. Having struggled with the bike a lot last year Espargaro won’t be looking to Smith for help:

“You have to stamp on your competitors no matter who they are,” he says. “Every opportunity you get to stick a knife in, or squash their motivation, you can’t miss a beat. If that flame starts to burn you have to put it out, it’s our job as a teammate. And not only your teammate honestly, you do that to as many people as possible. Our job is about confidence so you need to knock that however much you can and put as much doubt in other rider’s heads as you possibly can.

“The likes of Valentino [Rossi] and Jorge [Lorenzo] have been in the Championship so long they’re almost immune to it. But if Valentino has a sniff at getting it over on you, or to demoralise you, he’s definitely the best at doing it. He has got in riders heads and really ruffled feathers in the past.”

Bradley Smith is in his fourth season in MotoGP (Getty Images)

The racer Smith respects the most however, is Marc Marquez.

“I have a lot of respect for Marquez,” Smith adds. “Because of what he’s achieved in the sport in such as short amount of time. To be four times world champion at the age of 21 is an amazing feat and it’s amazing to watch at what level he rides a motorcycle and the risks he takes even in practice sessions. If it were a race around the car park, Marc would still be at the limit.”

Having achieved his first MotoGP podium in 2014, Smith didn’t expect to be standing on the second step during last season even with the great season he’d enjoyed. At one stage during the Italian race at Misano, Smith was in 21st position and considering he might have made a huge error in his set-up, but as weather conditions changed, and other riders were forced to slow, it paid off for Smith to claim his first second-place finish.

“I didn’t think it was going to be possible last year but having seen Cal [Crutchlow] podium at the second race in Argentina and later at Silverstone where Petrucci battled for the third-place podium, I realised it is possible,” he explains. “Misano was a special moment”

He admits he is absolutely useless at relaxing when he’s not working and whilst many racers don’t enjoy training, he in fact loves it and strives to maintain a great level of fitness throughout the year, even stepping it up during holidays. Living in Andorra, Smith feeds off the community he’s surrounded by which includes other racers and athletes:

“It’s a great environment to be in, there’s a lot of motivated people that live a very outdoor lifestyle,” says Smith. “We’ve got fantastic countryside to take advantage of and a lot of positive vibes that certainly rub off on me. I ride trail bikes right out of my garage, go trekking in the mountains up to 3000 metres, it’s like a big playground so suits me perfectly.”

Smith has a career-best finish of second in MotoGP (Getty Images)

Tech 3 team boss, Hervé Poncharal, has said the best is yet to come from Smith, and he agrees.

“If you look at my career inside of MotoGP, it’s been progressing year on year and there’s a solid foundation from 2015 to grow on, how much is yet to come I don’t know. There is definitely more inside me, more to learn and adapt to and I’m glad my boss has the same belief in my ability that I do.”

A new era begins with Michelin taking over from Bridgestone as tyre supplier this year and expectations are that the performance cannot be the same. However, Smith is impressed and happy with what he’s seen so far during winter testing heading into the opening race weekend. He believes his satellite bike for this season will be close to that of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo’s, the factory Yamaha riders.

After the Spanish race at Jerez in May and the factory’s test immediately after however, he expects the gap to grow so he plans to take advantage while he can in the opening four races.

“My main goal for this year is to be top satellite rider again and I want to do it in abomination fashion like I did last year. I finished 56 points ahead of the second satellite rider which was huge. And secondly, my goal is to get a factory contract. I’ll be 26 years old next year, so it could be the last chance to be taken seriously for a factory contract. Considering all the young riders coming through from the feeder class it’s going to be important to secure that for 2017 and 2018.”

The first race of the MotoGP Championship will be broadcast live from Doha on Sunday 20th March on BT Sport.