Bradley Smith, Cal Crutchlow And Scott Redding Speak To Sportsvibe Ahead Of Moto GP Climax
It has been a dramatic Moto GP season so far, especially with last weekendÛªs antics hitting the sporting headlines. The Malaysian GP threw up quite a spectacle last time out, and currently championship riders are getting ready to enter the last weekend of the season. We caught up with British riders Bradley Smith, Cal Crutchlow and Scott Redding ahead of the big finale in Valencia.
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Looking ahead to the race, Smith said: ÛÏIÛªm full of confidence, last time out in Valencia finished well, I really like Valencia, IÛªve had quite a few podiums there, and I won my last 125 race there. Yeah I’m excited to go in to the race, I have an 18 point advantage over the guy behind me so itÛªs quite secure so I can really be excited going in to the weekend.
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ÛÏIÛªve had a great season; right now IÛªm top satellite rider, IÛªve had a podium this season and IÛªve got a contract ready till 2016 within the same team, so I canÛªt really ask for much more.Û
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Scott Redding is pushing for a podium finish this weekend, but the season has not gone as well as he would have hoped. Despite this, Scott still believes he can finish strongly.
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ÛÏItÛªs been a difficult season, not what I expected, I wanted a few better results than I got. The bike was more difficult to ride then the bikes in the past years. I just try to improve every time but it was hard to do this.
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ÛÏIÛªd like to finish in the top ten, or top five or podium would be good. But if I can do top ten IÛªll be happy, thatÛªs normally my target.Û
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Valentino Rossi goes into Sunday’s Moto GP title decider in Valencia with his hopes of a 10th world championship hanging in the balance after a court ruled he must start in last place.
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Rossi caused uproar at the penultimate race in Malaysia, when he appeared to fling his left leg towards HondaÛªs Marc Marquez, subsequently knocking the Spaniard off his bike.
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Rossi did however deny the allegations, but has been penalised. With Rossi leading Lorenzo by seven points and needing 25 for the win, this weekendÛªs race is undoubtedly finely poised for a mouth-watering encounter.
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The controversy certainly overshadowed the last race, so we asked Smith to tell us his views on the situation.
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ÛÏItÛªs a difficult one for me to comment on because I fully understand race direction, the one thing I can comment on is the actual move itself, anything leading up to it or after I canÛªt comment on because I donÛªt know enough about it.
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ÛÏThe actual move from Valentino was out of line and over the mark, of course it needs to be dealt with in the right way, because doing what he did was exceeding whatÛªs accepted at GP level.Û
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A slightly more reserved Scott Redding, also voiced his opinion on the matter and he thinks the situation is being blown out of proportion.
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ÛÏWhat Rossi did was wrong and he needs to accept the penalty and the consequences and thatÛªs all I can say. Overall, itÛªs all been blown out of proportion, it is always very exciting but I think the situations gone too far, IÛªm not sure whatÛªs going to happen.Û
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Fellow Brit Cal Crutchlow, known for his honesty in interviews, felt as though it was not his place to speak on the matter, but offered an explanation as to why.
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ÛÏI donÛªt think itÛªs my place to say anything on this and IÛªll tell you why. I was nothing to do with what happened and it doesnÛªt really affect me. Whatever I say about it I could get into trouble so IÛªm just going to focus on the race and look forward to an exciting finale.Û
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Crutchlow was involved in a controversial moment of his own this season, when teammate and close friend Jack Miller made an error that forced them both out of the race, but he expressed the importance of accepting apologies and moving on.
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ÛÏJackÛªs a close friend of mine and we spend a lot of time together. IÛªve taken riders off before and had to apologise and itÛªs up to you whether you accept it or not, but thereÛªs nothing else you can do so you have to move on to the next race – itÛªs just part of the sport.Û
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All three British riders will be involved in Valencia, and while the real drama is between Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, and perhaps Marc Marquez again, they all have their own ambitions of finishing well.
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BT Sport is the home of MotoGP in the UK with every race exclusively live throughout the season. Watch all of the action from the Grand Prix of Valencia starting with SaturdayÛªs qualifying live on BT Sport 2 from 8am, followed by live race coverage on Sunday from 9:30am.