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Injured Bradley Smith unsure of MotoGP recovery timeframe

Bradley Smith expects to know more about when he will return to MotoGP from his leg injuries following a meeting with a surgeon next week

The British rider sustained knee-ligament damage in a crash during practice for last weekend's Oschersleben 8 Hours and has currently been ruled out of his home race at Silverstone this weekend and the Misano race one week later.

Tech3 Yamaha has replaced Smith for the two races with World Superbike racer Alex Lowes.

Smith says he expects to know more on a timeframe for his return next week.

"I am trying to get myself as fit and healthy as possible, and things are moving in the right direction," he said.

"We'll be working closely with a physiotherapist for the next week in order to try to recover quickly and fully from the injury.

"I've already scheduled a meeting, in a weeks' time, with the surgeon so that we can find out the exact timeframe with this injury.

"The situation has happened and I'm very thankful to everyone who has helped me in the last four or five days.

"We are doing everything that we can to be back racing as soon as possible."

The next clash between the MotoGP and WSBK calendars is on October 14-16, when MotoGP visits Motegi and Superbikes race at Jerez.

LOWES HAS NO EXPECTATIONS

Lowes, the 25-year-old twin brother of Moto2 racer Sam Lowes, sampled MotoGP machinery for the first time at Brno earlier this month.

As a reward for winning the Suzuka 8 Hours with Yamaha, Lowes was handed a run on Pol Espargaro's Tech3 machine in the post-Czech Grand Prix test, although his 15 laps finished with a fall.

"First of all, I just want to say how sorry I am to hear of Bradley's injury," he said.

"It sounds like he has been extremely unlucky and I hope he gets well soon.

"With regards to me getting this opportunity, of course it's genuinely a dream come true.

"I'm sure that I'll have to pinch myself on Sunday when I'm sitting on the starting grid with [Valentino] Rossi, [Jorge] Lorenzo, [Marc] Marquez, etc.

"However, I have no expectations at this point. I simply want to learn as much as I can from everyone around me."

DID YOU KNOW...

...Smith was on the grid when Lowes made his only other appearance in a world championship race?

Lowes contested the 2006 British Grand Prix at Donington Park as a wildcard in the 125cc class, but did not finish the race won by eventual champion and current Aprilia MotoGP rider Alvaro Bautista.

The year was Smith's first on the world stage, and he scored his first points at Donington with 12th.

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