That, and the way the bloke handled this starlit media circus when he could have been trashing his hotel room in frustration, is why he's worth the millions.
Saturday pm - Bradley Leaps a 36-Year Gap for the Brits
Bradley Smith's pole position in 125cc qualifying tonight on his Polaris World Aprilia bridges an amazing 36-year-old gap in the record books for British riders. The last Briton to claim a pole in the 125cc class was Chas Mortimer, on a Yamaha, at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium in 1972.
Smith and
James Toseland, leaders of a new wave of British talent, now have the chance to rewrite plenty of other statistics after a long period when Britain has languished in grand prix competition. Here are some other statistics set by last wave of British heroes:
World championships:
Last Briton to win the 125cc world championship: Dave Simmonds (Kawasaki)
1969.
Last Briton to win the 250cc world championship: Phil Read (Yamaha) 1971.
Last Briton to win the 500cc world championship: Barry Sheene (Suzuki) 1977.
Grand prix race:
Last Briton to win a 125cc grand prix: Chas Mortimer (Yamaha) 1973, Spain.
Last Briton to win a 250cc grand prix: Jeremy McWilliams (Aprilia) 2001, Holland.
Last Briton to win a 500cc/MotoGP: Barry Sheene (Suzuki) 1981, Sweden.
Pole position:
Last Briton to claim pole position in a 250cc grand prix: Jeremy Mc
Williams
(Aprilia) 1999, Australia.
Last Briton to claim pole position in a 500cc/MotoGP: Jeremy McWilliams
(Proton) 2002, Australia.
Special thanks to
MotoGP's official statistician Martin Raines for help with these statistics.
Saturday pm - Yamaha Finds 10mph Improvement at Losail
