Bradley Smith

Bradley Smith took part in his first season in the 125cc World Championship in 2006. The young Englishman was incorporated into the Repsol Honda team as their sole rider for the 2006 season, an opportunity which resulted from his Dorna MotoGP Academy experience and his runner-up finish in the Spanish CEV Championship.

Bradley took his first points at Donington Park, but unfortunately a fractured left radial at the Czech Grand Prix temporarily knocked him off his stride. He recovered to take his best result of the year in the Japanese Grand Prix, finishing eighth at Motegi.

After a series of impressive finishes he finished the season in 19th place with 20 points, and crowned ‘2006 Rookie of the Year’

As part of a new look 125 field in 2007, with several more experienced riders moving up to 250, Smith had a good chance of achieving regular top ten finishes. He was no longer riding alone for Repsol Honda in the category, he now faced healthy competition from new team-mate Esteve Rabat.

After a tough but good season Bradley finished with 101 points in 10th position in the championship. The season featured many highs with 11 top 10 finishes and his first podium in the championship with a 3rd place in France.

For 2008 Bradley moved to the Polaris World 125 team. The season started fantastically with 3 pole positions in the first 4 races. Converting the second race at Jerez into his first podium of the season with a fine 3rd place.

Bradley encountered a few technical issues through the year which caused a few problems but he did start every race. The season finished well at Valencia where Bradley finished just off the podium in 4th.

Bradley continued his improving results in 2008 finishing with 9 top six finishes containing 4 podiums (3rd Jerez and 2nd in France, San Marino and Malaysia) with a total of 150 points and 6th in the championship.

Bradley re-wrote the history books in 2009 by finishing second in the 125 cc World Championship. He joined the Spanish based Bancaja Aspar Aprilia team and became a true World Championship contender. He won his very first grand prix at Jerez in Spain in front of a massive crowd and soon secured a second victory at Mugello in Italy.

Crashes in Germany and Great Britain stalled his Championship chances but he put in a superb second half of the season by securing six consecutive podium finishes including three second places to his team-mate and World Champion Julian Simon at the last three grands prix.

He finished nine times on the podium in the 16 races and re-wrote the history books for British Motorcycle racing.