Bradley Smith says the time has arrived to establish himself as a title contender as the opening round of the 125cc World Championship in Qatar draws ever closer.
The 17-year-old Briton heads into the new season with a new team having moved from the Repsol Honda squad to the Aprilia-backed Polaris World team for 2008.
Already in pre-season testing, the third-year rider has shown himself to be amongst the pace-setters and topped the times at
Jerez in the first test of the year before finishing in second place – but ahead of current champion Gabor Talmacsi – at Valencia. Smith was then the man to beat once again in the most-recent three day test at Jerez leaving him as one of the title favourites going into the opening round of the season 9 March.
“I've dedicated my life to this since before I even became a teenager so to get a break like this is a dream come true” he said. “Last year was fantastic for me with my first podium finish and tenth in the championship. Now it's time to become a serious title contender.
“One person who set off, like me, to race in the 125cc class at a very young age was
Casey Stoner and he's just been crowned Moto GP world champion so I've got a lot to live up to. Hopefully I can get off to a good start in Qatar next month and take it from there.”
