Smith: We’re in a better situation than after Malaysia

Bradley Smith has hailed his Red Bull Factory KTM team on the work they have managed to complete between the Malaysian test at Sepang and the Thailand test at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram.

Smith put in a solid amount of work as the factory’s sole full-time rider, as Pol Espargaro missed the test following injuries sustained in a crash during the Sepang test. 217 laps were clocked around Buriram for Smith, who finished the test a mere 1.1 off Dani Pedrosa’s time at the top.

“I think that we’re in a better situation than we were in after Malaysia. When we finished the Sepang test we didn’t have the same feeling with the bike that we finished last year with,” said the Brit, starting his second season as a Factory KTM rider.

“Then we were pushing for the top 12 but we didn’t have that feeling during the first test. For this test the guys analysed the Malaysian data and we found a better feeling and made some refinements. Corner entry was a struggle at Malaysia and it surprised us not to have that feeling.

“The strength of the KTM last year was under braking and that’s very important here in Thailand and we found it much better this week. We’ve been able to work on a lot of chassis and aerodynamic improvements. It’s been good to test here and learn the track and we’re definitely more in the mix compared to the Malaysian test.”

Smith said in an exclusive interview with Motorsport Radio in November that one of the main strengths of the KTM was ‘their ability to bring new products’ and that their ‘reaction times to chassis, swinging arms and so on is very fast.’ You can watch the full interview here.