Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith enjoyed a successful one-day MotoGP test session at the Misano track today, the British pair completing over 130-laps between them to make big progress with the set-up of their YZR-M1 machinery.

Once damp patches left over from heavy rain last night cleared by the late morning, Crutchlow and Smith were able to take advantage of near perfect conditions to evaluate a range of set-up options to help their competitiveness in the remaining five races of the 2013 campaign.

Crutchlow built on an encouraging top six finish in yesterday’s 28-lap race to set the fourth best time today, the 27-year-old satisfied with modifications that helped with braking performance.

A best time of 1.33.780 was less than 0.2s outside of the top three, while teammate Smith also enjoyed a positive and productive day at the San Marino venue.

The rookie was able to set a best time of 1.34.414 that put him 11th on the final timesheets. Smith was delighted with progress made in improving rear grip on worn tyres thanks to a successful rider position experiment in his 69-lap stint.

Both Crutchlow and Smith also tested a new hard compound Bridgestone rear tyre option made available today and they gave positive feedback on the new spec.

Cal Crutchlow 4th 1.33.780s – 65 laps:

“I am very happy with how the test went today. I think the chance to ride without the pressure of a race weekend came at a good time for me and I was able to gain more confidence with my YZR-M1. I now need to make sure we carry on the momentum gained at the next race in Aragon. I found some good improvements with the braking. Not so much in the initial braking but certainly in the last phase of braking and that will help me in future races. I went faster and I was able to stop the bike in a shorter distance than I could all weekend, so that is positive. I am pleased with the progress because my pace all day was consistent and a lot better than the race weekend. The new hard rear tyre from Bridgestone was also very positive. I did 28-laps on it and I did my fastest time right at the end, so Bridgestone has done an excellent job and it is great they have taken our feedback on board and made a good change in the right direction.”

Bradley Smith 11th 1.34.414 – 69 laps:

“Today was all about trying to figure out what went wrong during the last couple of races and I believe we found a good direction. We have come back more towards my base setting with some specific changes for this track. I changed the rider position and that definitely helped me. Maybe not so much on new tyres but definitely on worn tyres and with a full fuel load as well because more of my weight was over the rear. I also tried the new Bridgestone hard tyre and they have done a great job and I am really impressed with the performance of it. I am excited to try it in the future because normally we can’t use the hard tyre because of edge grip, so they have taken a good step forward. I rode fast on it today and I am happy. It was a very positive day and we leave here for Aragon a lot closer to where we need to be and more confident for the rest of the season.”

.