The Tech 3 Racing Team is anticipating a tough battle in tomorrow's Indianapolis Moto2 race after Bradley Smith and Xavier Simeon qualified in 14th and 18th respectively in gloriously sunny conditions this afternoon.
Refreshed and raring to go after a long summer break, Smith and Simeon were unable to find a comfortable set-up with the Mistral 610 machine on the slippery track surface at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After his fantastic podium challenge at the last round in Mugello, Smith arrived in America in high spirits and looking forward to building on the confidence gained in Italy.
The British rider though couldn't find the ideal set-up in practice to finish higher than 16th, but modifications for qualifying helped him gain two places.
His best time of 1.44.061 was 0.7s faster than his previous best lap over the weekend and he was only just over 0.5s away from the top six in yet another fiercely contested Moto2 qualifying session.
Simeon was only 0.2s behind Smith's pace and he will start from 18th but is confident he could have secured a much higher grid position had he not repeatedly encountered slower riders as he pushed for a fast lap time in the closing stages.
The Belgian rider ended with a best of 1.44.291 but he is optimistic that he can mount a challenge for a top 10 finish in tomorrow's 26-lap race.
Bradley Smith 14th 1.44.061 – 19 laps:
“We arrived here with confidence high after a positive race in Mugello but for some reason we just haven't been able to find a good set-up with the bike here in Indianapolis. I haven't felt anywhere near as comfortable on the bike as I did in Mugello and we need 0.5s to be in the battle for the top six tomorrow. It will be a long night because we have to try and find some solutions that will help me be faster and more competitive in the race. We will work hard and as always I will be giving it 100% in the race to get another strong finish.”
Xavier Simeon 18th 1.44.291 – 21 laps:
“My goal for qualifying was to be inside the top 15 and unfortunately I wasn't able to achieve that. This morning we made some changes to the bike that didn't work as we had hoped, so for qualifying we went back to yesterday's setting and I could at least push. But at the end of qualifying there was a lot of traffic on the track and I couldn't get a completely clean lap. I know I have some margin to improve for the race and the target will be to reach the top 10.”
Tech 3 Racing Press Release
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