Tech 3 Racing's Bradley Smith has vowed to launch one of his trademark aggressive performances in tomorrow's Estoril Moto2 race after qualifying in 13th position.

Smith powered his Tech 3 Mistral 610 machine to a best time of 1.41.733 in today's qualifying session, which left him just over 0.2s away from the top six.

Working closely with his dedicated Tech 3 Racing crew, Smith made big progress with improving the front-end set-up of his Mistral 610 machine, but is looking to make further improvements to gain more confidence with rear grip ahead of tomorrow's race.

Tech 3 Racing Team riders Bradley Smith and Xavier Simeon collected valuable World Championship points in a Spanish Moto2 Grand Prix cut short by rain showers this afternoon.

Smith and Simeon were both in contention for top 10 positions when rain began falling shortly after the halfway stage of another absorbing Moto2 encounter.

The race started under heavy cloud cover with damp patches still scattered around the Circuito de Jerez from earlier cloudbursts, but both Smith and Simeon quickly adapted to the tricky conditions to battle their way int o contention for a double top 10 finish.

Xavier Simeon and Bradley Smith are confident they can deliver a double top 10 finish for the Tech 3 Racing Team in tomorrow's Jerez Moto2 race after a difficult qualifying session this afternoon.

Simeon's quest to register his first World Championship points of the season will commence from 17th position on the grid after he set a best time of 1.44.308 in easily the best conditions of a weekend badly disrupted by rain.

The Moto2 qualifying session took place on a full dry track, presenting Simeon and Smith with their first oppor tunity to work on the set-up of the Mistral 610 machine on Dunlop slick tyres.

Tech 3 Racing rider Bradley Smith kicked off the 2012 Moto2 World Championship with a battling ride to ninth position after overcoming physical and mechanical problems in an exciting season opener at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.

A fast start off the line immediately launched Smith into the top 10 from the fourth row of the grid and he commenced a stunning charge towards a group of eight riders dicing it out for the podium in the opening half of the race.

But he was unfortunately unable to sustain his challenge when he suffere d a technical problem with the rear brake of his Mistral 610 machine on lap 12, which prevented him from entering corners with the same confidence.

Smith also tired in the closing stages after producing a heroic effort to stay in contention for the top 10 after he was struck down by a bout of food poisoning overnight.

He finished ninth and was only 10 seconds behind the winner and the 21-year-old is optimistic he will be fighting for the top six when the season resumes in Jerez on April 29.