AXO rider Bradley Smith fought for victory throughout a pulsating Moto2 race at the spectacular Mugello circuit, taking his third successive podium finish, while Tony Cairoli grabbed the red plate at Uddevalla (Sweden) climbing on the third step of the podium.

Smith took full advantage of his first front row start in the ultra-competitive Moto2 class to launch an immediate pursuit of early leader Marc Marquez. Smith was involved in an enthralling fight for the victory throughout the entire 21-lap race, the Briton challenging Marquez, Stefan Bradl, Alex De Angelis and Andrea Iannone in front of a big Italian crowd.

He displayed his ability to maintain a fast and consistent pace on worn tyres to seize the lead with just three laps to go. Marquez and Bradl quickly launched a counter attack and despite a renewed effort to force his way back into victory contention, Smith crossed the line in third position. This moves him into third place in the World Championship rankings after eight rounds.

Bradley Smith: “We had the podiums in the wet in the last two races and that gave me great confidence, but we did a great job this weekend to show we are competitive in the dry as well. My Mistral 610 bike worked awesome today and I tried to give myself the best opportunity to win by going to the front a couple of laps from the end. I was just committed because I was losing a bit compared to Marc on the straight, but I didn't quite have the speed to match them on the last lap. The pace was so hot but I couldn't quite get them back, despite pushing at my absolute maximum. I want to say a big thanks to my Team again, because without them none of this would've been possible. Three successive podiums is definitely proof of that and now I am looking forward to going to Sachsenring.”

In Uddevalla, Tony Cairoli managed to take the red plate for the first time this year and now the current World Champion leads the chart by ten points on rival Desalle.

Only misfortune prevented Tony to win the GP in Sweden: and early crash in Moto 1 saw him re-start from the very last spot: he started to push hard and was able to come back from 35^th to a well-deserved 5^th place as the chequered flag was waved.

With few energies left to spend, Tony managed to take the runner up spot in the final outing behind GP winner Frossard, to take the third step of the podium and, above all, the red plate!

Tony Cairoli: “I crashed at the second turn of the first heat and the race suddenly became hard for me. I have pushed so hard to come back and in the end I was fifth, which was good, but I gave it all and I was so tired! In race 2 I took a good start, but took a little bit of time to pass Goncalves. Once I got second, I just tried to keep my pace, as Frossard had already taken some gap on me and I had not enough energy to catch him. All in all it has been a good week end, I didn’t take the win, but I got the red plate from Desalle and now I am looking forward to Germany, next week end!”.

Good job also for AXO riders Ken De Dycker and Steve Ramon, who finished fourth and fifth respectively and for Ivan Lazzarini, who in the Supermoto Grand Prix of Andorra, conquered the fifth spot overall.