Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider Bradley Smith courageously fought through the challenging track conditions today in Sepang to brilliantly finish in 5th place for round 17 of the 2014 MotoGP World Championship. The British rider lined up in 9th on the grid and as the 20 lap sprint began, he lunged forward when the lights flicked to green, completing the first lap in 8th position. By the fifth lap, the 23 year old rider was running a consistent and formidable race pace in 6th as he resolutely fought the searing heat and as a result, the increasing lack of traction at the Sepang International Circuit. The British star, who clinched a debut podium at the last round in Australia then set about relentlessly plugging the gap to Stefan Bradl ahead over the following laps, inching closer as the race distance progressed. When the last lap began, Smith launched a fantastic late charge to close right in on the German rider in front and despite a valiant effort to pass in the final moments at the last corner, he just missed out successfully overtaking Bradl for 4th. Nevertheless, his thorough and determined ride to fifth saw him move up to 7th in the championship standings and conclude the three fly away races with another strong result.

Meanwhile, Pol Espargaro made a truly heroic effort to power through the pain of the injury to his foot yesterday to clinch 6th in the tough MotoGP battle at Sepang today. The reigning Moto2 World Champion fell heavily in yesterday’s FP3 session and fractured the second head of the metatarsal in his left foot. However he fought onwards and competed in the warm up today, where he finished in 14th place. The Spanish rider began his race from 12th on the grid after bravely making the decision to contest the race, as even though he did not partake in the qualifying yesterday, his FP3 time which left him in 10th, allowed him direct entry into QP2. Espargaro started the GP strongly and finished the first lap in 10th as he stayed determined to seize a top ten despite his injuries. With six laps having been completed, he had closed in on Yonny Hernandez and made the move one lap later, to impressively place him in 7th with 13 laps remaining around the 5543 metre circuit. The rookie carried on his striking display to overtake Andrea Dovizioso on lap 18 to clinch 6th and he eventually crossed the finish line in this position after a highly notable show of perseverance. His superb result today saw him move up to 6th in the world championship standings after the penultimate round in Malaysia.

Bradley Smith - Position : 5th Championship : 7th Points : 119

"It was a great result for us today after what was a really tough race and tricky weekend in general. We were never quite where we wanted to be in the practice sessions and qualifying on the third row didn't make our situation easier for today. Yet, to finish the race 20 seconds back from the leader in 5th is a strong result and better than what we predicated. The race itself was very demanding and the body goes under so much stress during it, but this is why we train and do the hard work to prepare for events like these. The team did a great job and the 5th goes well with the podium from last week, to mark a positive flyaway period for me. It would have been good to get Stefan for the extra two points to aid our championship standing ambitions, but I gave it my absolute all and didn’t have anything left. I am happy with the performance and now we will head back to Europe, where we will battle to finish in a similar position as I have to keep reaching these results in order to try and get the 6th place in the championship."

Pol Espargaro - Position : 6th Championship : 6th Points : 126

"The race today was a really tough one for me, but I am very happy to walk away from here with a 6th place finish and some more valuable championship points, which was a much better result than what we anticipated after yesterday. Apart from my physical conditions, today was also really hard because we didn’t compete in FP4 yesterday and so we lost a lot of valuable time to work on the setup. Yet, the team did an amazing job to prepare a really good bike and I must thank them for their continued work all weekend long. In the race itself, I just tried to run a consistent pace and finish. I really gave it absolutely everything that I had and it was very tough in the last ten laps as that’s when my foot started to hurt a lot with turning the bike being especially hard. However, I never gave up and am happy with the result as we collected some very important championship points which helped me to pass my brother to gain 6th position in the overall standings. Now I will rest up before the final race in Valencia where I will try to be as fast as possible to finish my rookie season on a high."

Hervé Poncharal - Team manager :

"What a fantastic race and brilliant ending to the weekend for us. We were all really worried about Pol’s condition after his fall yesterday and did not know if he could start the race, never mind finishing it. Even if a rider is fully fit, it’s not easy to complete the challenge here as it’s such a demanding race with the humidity and heat. Both riders had a strong start and got stuck into good rhythms, plus they didn’t make any mistakes and remained consistent. Bradley and Pol kept their heads down and really deserve these results. I was very happy to see Brad catching Stefan Bradl in the last few laps and trying his best to overtake him at the final turn. Unfortunately he couldn’t make the pass, but I am really happy for him as he followed his podium in Australia with a great 5th place here. Even more amazing is Pol finishing in 6th as we were not sure if he could last the race distance with his injury, but he did an amazing job as Bradley did and I congratulate their fighting spirit. Many thanks also to Yamaha for their never ending support throughout the year and it's especially nice to score this result here in south east Asia with the bikes being very important in Indonesia and Thailand, so we are even more proud to be part of it. Next we will head to Valencia where we hope Bradley and Pol will have another strong set of results to strengthen their championship standings, with the team position now being third in front of Ducati which is something we definitely want to keep. So, it should be a very hot final in all departments."

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