Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider Bradley Smith rode a superbly executed race whilst battling the challenging wet conditions to brilliantly land 5th position at the Motorland Aragon circuit today. The British star began the race which was initially dry, from 11th on the grid as he looked to surge through the field straight away and make a charge for the leading bikes. However Smith had to undertake evasive action to avoid colliding with another rider which caused him to slip down to 20th at the end of the first lap. Yet, the 23 year old rider composed himself and rapidly made amends as he reached 11th by lap 5 after firmly setting into a solid and consistent race pace. With 14 laps to go, Smith was running in tenth and closing down the riders in front before breezing past Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista to seize 8th as the rain began to fall. On lap 18 he made the decision to enter the pits to swap to his bike with the wet setup and then climbed back up to 7th on the 20th lap. Following this, the British rider proceeded to overthrow his teammate on lap 22 to clinch 5th and brilliantly stormed to the chequered flag in this position to equal his best finish in MotoGP. In addition, Smith overtook a colossal fifteen riders from the end of the first lap in what was an impressive showing of pure determination aboard the Yamaha YZR-M1.

On the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 garage, Pol Espargaro persevered through the difficult weather conditions to finish right behind his teammate in 6th position. The young Spanish rider who ran strongly all weekend continued his hot streak of form in the 23 lap race which he began from the head of the second row in 4th. He bolted forward and completed the opening lap in 5th position as he ran right behind the factory MotoGP riders. The Spaniard remained focused and by the third lap he was running in 4th as he became locked into a battle with Andrea Dovizioso. The rookie unfortunately ran wide during the 8th lap and was moved back to 7th as he fought the challenging circuit but showed complete resolve to move back up to 5th by the lap 12. With four laps remaining as the rain was falling stronger, Espargaro swapped to his wet bike to then reclaim 5th shortly after pitting. As the end got closer he held off Alvaro Bautista to finish 6th at the chequered flag in what was another strong performance for the premier class rookie.

Bradley Smith - Race : 5th Championship : 10th Points : 85

"It was a great result today and I accomplished my ambition of getting into the top five although the conditions may have helped me in achieving this. It was a tough race and I could have finished even higher still had I not dropped back to 20th on the first lap. I tried to take some aggressive passes at the beginning and actually hit the back of someone, who I think was Valentino at turn 5, which sat me up. I then had a speed wobble coming over the sweeping left uphill corner and I was going to possibly clip another rider in front but ended up 20th. I made the decision to pit at the same time as Cal, so I think a podium could have been possible for me, but I must say congratulations to him for the result. As for me, I am pleased to get 5th and I’ve got to say thank you to the team for the work they have done this weekend. Now I look forward to the upcoming flyaway races where I will once again be doing my best to get into the top six."

Pol Espargaro - Race : 6th - Championship : 7th Points : 108

"I really can't hide how disappointed I am as it is the 3rd time this year that we have been incredibly unlucky with the weather conditions. In Assen we were fast for the entire weekend and sitting right on the starting grid when the rain arrived and then the same happened two weeks later in Germany. Here we at least managed to show a strong first half of the race, but unfortunately I made a mistake and while I was catching up on Andrea to regain 4th position it started to rain again. I decided to copy the strategy of the more experienced riders in front of me but that clearly wasn’t the right choice as we lost a lot of time. It's truly frustrating, as with just a few more dry minutes we would have ended the weekend in a completely different manner. However, that's racing and we will try again in Japan in a couple of weeks of time."

Hervé Poncharal - Team manager :

"To have both riders finish 5th and 6th equals our best team result so far this year so we obviously have to be satisfied. When I had a look at the weather forecast yesterday I was a bit worried about what could occur today but both riders did a great job which should fill them with confidence for the next races. However, there is a slight bitter taste in our mouths as we missed a great opportunity for podiums when you see how some of the other riders capitalised on the weather. We were just a bit too late. Bradley pitted one lap earlier which was better than Pol, but he was still quite far behind due to his mistake at the beginning which was a big shame as his pace on the dry tyres when it was just starting to rain was very good. Pol was on course for a podium but considering that he is in his rookie year, it is understandable that he chose to follow the old hands in front of him, but for sure he learnt a lot for the future. Still, 5th and 6th is a strong set of results even though we could have possibly been higher, but now we head to Japan where we hope to repeat this positive result. In addition, I must congratulate Jorge on the wise decisions he made during the race to secure his first victory this season."

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