OXFORDSHIRE motorcycling starlet Bradley Smith got his new 125cc season under way with five days of testing in Spain.
He emerged from three days of riding at Jerez followed by a two-day test at Valencia and declared himself well satisfied with his progress on new machinery.
The 18-year-old from Forest Hill, near Oxford, was riding for his new Bancaja Aspar Aprilia team, finishing second fastest behind teammate Julian Simon in Jerez and third fastest in Valencia, despite missing track time because of poor weather.
“It was good to get some laps in at Valencia, although most of our work was done in the three days at Jerez,” said Smith, who finished sixth in last year’s 125cc World Championship.
“We’ve started working on a set-up which is completely new to what I had last year and already it seems safer and with more room to adjust to variables.”
Smith switched to the Bancaja Aspar Aprilia outfit last season from the Polaris team.
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