Be careful, big ambition! Bradley Smith did not convince during two years as a KTM official and his legitimacy as a starter on the RC16 was notably mishandled by the Mattighofen test rider, Mika Kallio. Here he is now in the shoes of the tester, but for Aprilia this time. And the Englishman intends to play the same game as the Finn to shake up Noale's certainties on Aleix Espargaró and Andrea Iannone…
On the waves of speedweek, Bradley Smith warns. We should not count on him at Aprilia like Ducati relies on Pirro. Of course, he will do his job by testing developments for the RS-GP, but he will also play his card when he is lined up in the Grand Prix as a guest. He will have the opportunity since he is expected in no less than five Grands Prix. Besides that, he will do MotoE for the One Energy Racing team led by the influential Sepang CEO Razlan Razali.
We see it, Bradley Smith is not yet considering early retirement… “ The good thing for me is that I drove for a whole season in 2018. I was there at the last Grand Prix in Valencia. And I will be on the starting grid for the first race of this season with the Aprilia. I do all the tests, so I never stop ».
He gets even more precise: “ I will be at the Losail tests to prepare for my Qatar Grand Prix. I work for the team. But everyone understands that I also work for the wild card. I'm here for Aprilia to position it as high as possible on the grid, but I'm also here for myself. This means that I am focused on my case and I have to make the bike as fast as possible ».
He finishes : " my mindset is that I'm a test pilot until I get back to work ". Who is that of a racing driver… “ Having a quick test driver is helpful. The development of the bike is going better and that puts pressure on everyone. What pushes everyone to improve ". These are the working relationships with Iannone et Aleix Espargaró
posed. *
