Press Release:
Tech 3 Racing Moto2 riders Bradley Smith and Mike di Meglio are confident they can race for a top ten finish in tomorrow’s Iveco TT Assen at the historic Circuit van Drenthe in Holland.
The seventh round of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship has thrown up a difficult challenge for Smith and di Meglio, with the Moto2 field only having one full dry session so far.
Yesterday morning’s session was run in wet conditions and an oil spillage forced the cancellation of second practice, hindering Smith and di Meglio’s preparations for the 24-lap race.
Sixth quickest in the solitary dry session this morning, Smith will start from 10th position on the grid as typically fast changing weather conditions struck the Assen track again during this afternoon’s qualifying session. Smith, who scored a stunning maiden podium in his home race at Silverstone just 13 days ago, had set a lap of 1.40.238 when rain started to fall at the halfway stage, preventing anybody from bettering their times in the final 25 minutes. Frenchman di Meglio will start just two places behind Smith. He posted a best time of 1.40.550 in the eight laps he managed before the rain fell and he’s confident his Mistral 610 machine has a competitive set-up for wet or dry conditions tomorrow.
Bradley Smith: 10th 1.40.238 ? 8 laps:
?It certainly hasn’t been the smoothest weekend so far with all the disruptions and rain, but I’m happy to be inside the top ten and confident of a strong race. We made quite a big change to the set-up after I was sixth in the dry this morning and in some areas it was positive. I knew we could improve our pace and get more confident with the bike but then the rain came and that was a shame because I think we could have been a bit higher up the grid. I’ve got my fingers crossed for a dry race, but we have to be ready for both conditions. Starting from the fourth row is a lot better than Silverstone, so if I can have a similar race tomorrow then I’ll be really happy.?
Mike di Meglio: 12th 1.40.550 ? 8 laps:
“We finished in a decent position just outside the top ten, so I am happy. I was immediately much faster this afternoon compared to this morning and we made big step with the bike, but unfortunately the rain started and we had no chance to make further improvements. Yesterday was not so bad in the rain and today it was not so bad in the dry, so we are good for both conditions and I am happy with the set-up. We just need to see what happens tomorrow with the weather because we know Assen can be really unpredictable.?
Heikki Mikkola Auguste Mingels Marty Moates Guennady Moisseev Bobby Moore
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