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MotoGP Phillip Island February testing
Smith afraid to "pull the pin" aboard the KTM
KTM rider Bradley Smith admits his lowly place on the MotoGP testing times in Phillip Island has been down to him being “a bit of a pansy” over a single lap.
Jamie Klein
Edited: Feb 16, 2017, 4:40 PM
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The Briton, who has joined the category’s newest manufacturer after four seasons at Tech 3 Yamaha, has been slowest in the 22-rider field during both days of running so far in Australia.
Smith was 3.1 seconds off the pace on Wednesday, and finished 2.8s behind Thursday's fastest man Maverick Vinales with a best lap of 1m31.704s.
Teammate Pol Espargaro was more than a second faster, albeit still only 19th.
Smith put the deficit down to a lack of bravery to push hard on a single lap, and not knowing exactly how hard he is able to push the KTM RC16.
“I am behind where I should be over the one lap, but I'm quite pleased with my pace on old tyres,” admitted Smith. “I go a tenth slower on a full race distance than I do on one lap.
“So it shows I am being a bit of a pansy when it comes to pulling the pin [for a hot lap].
“It seems to be the high-speed corners where I'm struggling the most, I just need to go with a little bit more commitment.
"But it’s easier said than done when you are riding a new motorcycle.”
He added: “I think anything less than two seconds [off the pace] is acceptable. Maverick did a flying lap today, if you look at everybody else, Pol was under the two seconds.
“So I think if you're 1.6, 1.7s at the end of tomorrow off the best laptime, I think it will be a good job.”
Despite being bottom of the times, Smith says he is still satisfied with the progression his KTM squad is making ahead of its first race as a full MotoGP entrant in Qatar next month.
”The package is great, the team is doing a fantastic job,” he said. “The guys react, they know what to do now, it's just the case of me then taking it to that next level.
“I can't say I'm unlocking the full potential when I can do the same laptime on full race distance tyres, especially here at Phillip Island where everybody knows there is quite a drop off here.
“It's just down to me to kind of up my game a little bit.”
Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont
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