Bradley Smith secured another top 10 Moto2 result at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan on Sunday.
The 20-year-old Oxford rider got a decent start from the second row of the grid and held fourth place on the opening lap, but a lack of rear grip in the coolest temperatures experienced all weekend meant the Tech 3 Racing Team star was unable to launch an attack to try and claim a fourth podium finish of the campaign.
Smith showed his grit and determination to come out on top of a titanic tussle for seventh place that involved Dominique Aegerter, Esteve Rabat and Mika Kallio. The young Brit was able to hold off the trio with some outstanding riding on worn tyres to collect his ninth top 10 finish of the 2011 season.
Bradley Smith said: “We can't be satisfied to start the race fourth and finish back in seventh, but I did the best job I could with the package I had today. I started the race full of confidence that I could compete for the podium based on how competitive my times were in practice and qualifying.
"But right from the start it was obvious I didn't have the same grip I had all weekend and it made it very difficult. I'm not really sure why we didn't have the same grip, so we need to analyse deeper and try and find an explanation. In the early laps I couldn't keep my pace and lost a few places, so I suppose I should be satisfied that I kept my head down and battled hard right to the end to take seventh.
"My pace was consistent over the final 10 laps, so that is a positive, but I am pretty disappointed to finish so far back. We'll put this result behind us and try and fight again for the top six in Australia, which is a track I can't wait to ride the Mistral 610 at."
Andrea Iannone took his third Moto2 win of the season after a race long battle with Marc Márquez, who now leads the championship by a single point. Iannone took the hole shot off the start of the race, ahead of pole starter Márquez, which then began a race-long fight for first place between the two, with Stefan Bradl briefly entering the challenge but dropping off the front and finally crossing the line fourth, a finish that bumped him out of the championship lead by a single point.
Thomas Lüthi made a return to the podium with a third place after a strong weekend that saw the Swiss rider at the top of two practice sessions and second on the starting grid, and finally winning a hard fought battle for the final podium position over Bradl and Simone Corsi. Corsi took fifth ahead of Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), with Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) crossing the line behind de Angelis to take seventh.
