MotoGP: Smith back in the top ten at Sachsenring

Despite being out of a job for 2019, Britain’s Bradley Smith gave Red Bull KTM their best result of the season and their first top ten of the campaign, as he took the Austrian manufacturer to 10th on Sunday.

Starting 16th, Smith got his usual fast start and rocketed up the order, placing 10th after the first lap. He then enjoyed a battle with Malaysian Hafizh Syahrin, before passing and pulling away to secure his best result at the German GP since 2015 and his first top ten since the sensational Australian Grand Prix last year.

“It was nice to be able to get the result that we knew was there and we’ve had that potential all season. For some reason or another Sundays have been the disappointing days, particularly in Assen two weeks ago where I felt I could have done a similar job as today. We have to be happy and we worked hard all weekend.

“I was able to hold with (Dani) Pedrosa and (Johann) Zarco for a long time and regrouped after a small mistake. I could then pull away from Hafizh and bring home some good points; six in fact after only scoring seven all season. Finally a good finish and we were able to show where the KTM can be.”

The next round of the championship comes from Brno in the Czech Republic, where Smith hasn’t finished a race at since 2015. Smith’s best result at the circuit is 7th, achieved for Tech 3 Yamaha back in 2015, whilst KTM got a 9th with Pol Espargaro last year.