MotoGP rookie Bradley Smith was all smiles after day one of 2013 testing at Sepang, when the Briton felt the full power of his Monster Yamaha M1 for the first time.
Smith had experienced just half a day of dry track time on his
MotoGP debut, at the 'cramped' Valencia circuit last November.
The Englishman has been made to wait nearly three months to get a proper day of testing under his belt, but it was worth the wait.
“It was really good fun, really good!” grinned Smith as he prepared to leave the circuit.
“It makes you appreciate what
MotoGP is all about here, because the size of the track allows you to really open it up. You feel more power than Valencia.”
The former 125cc grand prix winner clocked 56 Tuesday laps, the best of which was good enough for twelfth fastest out of the 28 riders.
Smith's best lap was 2.3s behind pace setter
Dani Pedrosa and 1.5s from Tech 3 team-mate Cal Crutchlow, but Smith has barely touched the set-up.
“We kept it really simple today. Just go out and ride as much as I can. We'll start to make some small plans tomorrow, but really these three days are just about gaining confidence, understanding the Yamaha and Bridgestone tyres.
“You have to have a lot of trust and faith in these bikes as they are so advanced.
“It's completely different to anything I've ever ridden, but there is no pressure on me. Every time I've gone out I've had fun and every time I've improved. So all in all it's been a good day one.
“Myself and Randy [Mamola, manager and 500cc legend] went to look at turn one where I was losing time by trying to be too aggressive.