Smith set for final Aprilia wild-card of season

Bradley Smith will make his fourth and final MotoGP wild-card appearance of the season for Aprilia at Aragon this weekend.

The Briton had been expected to make the maximum five allowed wild-cards alongside his RS-GP testing duties, but the revised MotoE calendar (where Smith is third in the standings) created a clash for the Valencia season finale.

Smith has taken a best finish of 17th from his three previous MotoGP races this season, at Qatar, Jerez and Catalunya.

"It’s good to be back on the track for my last wild-card of the season," said Smith. "We have done a lot of work behind the scenes on various tracks. We were in Aragón just a few days ago for a test.

"This weekend, my goal will be to help the official team ahead of the overseas rounds. It will be interesting to see where we are with respect to our competitors since everything evolves very quickly in MotoGP.

"This will help me understand where to focus our work for the rest of the season and in preparation for 2020."

Smith should again line-up alongside Aprilia regulars Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone, although the Italian will need to pass a medical test after missing his home Misano race last Sunday.

"Since Misano I have been working to recover from the shoulder injury," Iannone said. "Unfortunately we don't have much time. The situation is not perfect but only after the medical check-up will I know if it will be possible to race. My aim is to be there, even if I have to grit my teeth."

Espargaro took a twelfth place finish at Misano and has fond memories of Aragon where he matched Aprilia best ever four-stroke MotoGP result with sixth place in 2017.

"Aragón is a track where I have always done rather well. I like the layout and I expect to do better than in Misano," said the Spaniard, who expressed frustration at the lack of upgrades last time out.

"We know what our limits are. Right now, the best strategy is to always give 100%, trying to get the most out of the technical package we have available to us."