Bradley Smith's Moto2 season ended with a whimper when the Oxford rider crashed on lap two, remounting to finish 23rd in Valencia on Sunday.
The 20-year-old was unable to compete in the Malaysian GP after busting his collarbone in practice, seeing his chances of a place in the top three of the riders' standings disappear. Starting on slick tyres, the tricky conditions in Spain provided a test of the young racer's skills and concentration as Smith tried to gauge grip levels in the early phase of the race.
He immediately thrust himself into contention for the podium with a lightning start that moved him from 12th on the grid into fifth at the end of the first lap. But pushing hard to find a way by Finnish rider Mika Kallio, he crashed out at the second corner on turn two.
He landed hard on the left collarbone he broke in Sepang, but fortunately suffered no additional damage and was able to get back on his bike and finish down the field. Smith finished seventh in the overall standings, with the 2011 Moto2 title going to German Stefan Bradl, from Spain's Marc Marquez and Italy's Andrea Iannone.
Bradley Smith said: "I am really disappointed with the crash because I had a very good first lap. I was aggressive and I had a very good feeling with the bike, even though the conditions were far from ideal. I passed Kallio going into the first corner and was looking to push on when he was quite aggressive at turn two. I had a big slide from the front and rear tyres and it was impossible to save it.
"Today pretty much summed up my luck in the final part of the season and I seem to have been followed by bad luck for a few weeks now. It is a shame that we couldn't finish the season with some stronger results but we have proved capable of fighting for the top five on a regular basis. Luckily it was quite a slow crash at that part of the track and my shoulder didn't suffer any damage. We're confident we have made big improvements with the new bike that will help me fight at the front consistently next season.”
