Smith: I think I understand new Moto2 style

Bradley Smith will compete in his third different class this season as he makes a popular return to the Moto2 World Championship for his home Silverstone round, in place of the injured Khairul Idham Pawi at the Sepang team.

The Englishman has made three wild-card starts in MotoGP this season alongside test riding duties for Aprilia, as well as posting two podiums in the new MotoE series.

Smith hopes that switching between such machinery, plus training on Supermoto and Motocross bikes, will now help him adapt to the Moto2 class.

The double MotoGP podium finisher last raced in Moto2 back in 2012 for Tech3 and thus has no prior experience of the new 765cc Triumph engine, Magneti-Marelli ECU or Kalex chassis.

“Fortunately for me, I’ve been riding a lot of different bikes this year, from Motocross and Supermoto to MotoGP and MotoE," Smith said.

"I think that should make adapting a little easier, because I’ve already been jumping from a 260kg electric bike with 140 horsepower to something [MotoGP] that’s 100kg lighter and has double the power!

"Every world championship is a competitive place and coming in in the middle of the season is tricky because everyone is already up to speed, but I hope I can adapt quickly.

"I think I understand the new Moto2 riding style, so I’ll have to change some things but hopefully not too many.

"Silverstone is a circuit where you have to be brave. It’s one of my favourites of the season.

"It’s already been a fantastic year for the team, so I’m looking forward to raising my level and maintaining the team’s good performance.”

Mattia Pasini handed the Petronas-backed team it's best Moto2 result of the season so far with eleventh place in front of his home fans at Mugello.

However, Sepang has been more successful in the other classes with a win by John McPhee in Moto3, the two podiums by Smith in MotoE and three rostrums for Fabio Quartararo in MotoGP.

Smith took a wet Moto2 podium finish at Silverstone in 2011.