In the first of his exclusive columns for Crash.net, 15-year-old British schoolboy Bradley Smith reviews the Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul, his third race as a 125cc grand prix rider for the Repsol Honda team...
Jerez was my first grand prix, it was incredible to see 132,000 people there on race day, then we went to Qatar with a completely different culture, and now after race three in Turkey I'm feeling a bit gutted because of the smallest of spills that would otherwise have let me continue.
Frustratingly, the foot peg was broken and I couldn't get back on. Something was just missing at Turkey though. In the race it felt like I was really pushing in terms of pace, and sliding the bike around, and that didn't happen in the previous two races. I upped my aggression for the race - as opposed to the lack of aggression I was giving it in Jerez and Qatar - but the placings didn't quite shake out. It's all part of the experience of course, and I'm not going to dwell on it.
Racing with the new guys I'm with this year is a little similar to the Spanish Championship where I finished second last year. But of course in Spain I was at the front and out of trouble with a brilliant clear view ahead! So to be back in the non-stop hit and run part of the pack means you have to be aggressive. I really got the bit between my teeth at the start in Turkey, picking off four of them at turn 2, but then dropped some other places before the end of the lap. How did that happen?!
The Istanbul Park track didn't feel that quick because it is just so wide. You could go through the quick right hander at Turn 11 and still have space on your left hand side. It's the
F1 track syndrome of having massive run offs to be safe, but it saved de Angelis in 250...
