Bradley Smith completed the 11th round of the 2014 World Championship with a hard fought race to 9th position in the Czech republic after giving his all despite being hindered by traction issues. The British rider began the 22 lap sprint around the 5403 metre Automotodrom Brno from 4th on the grid after an impressive display yesterday in qualifying which saw him only 0.004 from the front row. As the race began with 138,000 ecstatic fans trackside to view the spectacle, the British star slipped back to 9th at the end of the first lap but remained determined, quickly setting his fastest lap of the race on the lap 5. As the race progressed, he endured a lack of rear traction but persevered to attempt to claw back the deficit to the position in front. He closed in on 8th place right down to the finish line but met the end of the race in 9th with his resolute performance gifting him further valuable World Championship points to add to his 2014 campaign.

Meanwhile, it was an unfortunate end to a promising weekend for the reigning Moto2 world Champion, Pol Espargaro as he fell whilst trying to close the gap to the leading bikes at the bwin Grand Prix Ceske republiky. The rookie began his race from 9th on the grid and proceeded to ride rapidly as soon as the race began, running right behind the leading pack by the close of the first lap in 7th. The 23 year old Spaniard set into a solid rhythm as he plugged away at obtaining a top 5 result at the undulating 5403 metre circuit. However, his pursuit was halted on the 7th lap when he unfortunately crashed out, uninjured whilst in 8th position.

Bradley Smith - Race : 9th Championship : 10th Points : 65

"It goes without saying that the result today was much lower than I had anticipated after such a strong qualifying and I was sure that I could ride much closer to the leading bikes. It is a mystery as to why but I had less rear grip compared to this morning and yesterday afternoon. My traction control system needed to work considerably more during the race and I lost a lot of time exiting the corners, plus even when I was coming down the straight the rear was spinning. This is a frustrating end to the weekend as I know I have a much better pace than what I showed today. I feel we should be in the top six and challenging the factory boys but these things happen sometimes, so now we need to find out why and then get ready as I head to my home Grand Prix where I am convinced I can have a great race in front of my home fans."

Pol Espargaro -Race : DNF - Championship : 7th Points : 78

"I can't hide that I'm disappointed as a crash is never how a rider wants to end a GP but I still think we did a good job throughout the weekend. Our race pace seemed to be really promising and my start was not too bad as I managed to recover a couple of positions. But the front of the bike felt really nervous and I made a small mistake going straight so I lost some ground on Valentino and couldn't follow the group anymore. Afterwards Bradl passed me and at this stage I started to feel a bit more comfortable whilst finding a better rhythm, but when I realised that he was opening a small gap, I pushed harder and lost the front without any warning. It's a real pity as it certainly wasn’t how I wanted to finish the weekend, but now I have to think about our test day tomorrow as we have a lot of work to prepare and we will try to improve the biggest piece of the package, which is me."

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