125cc: Smith hopes for home turnaround

The Briton now trails his Aspar Aprilia team-mate Julian Simon by 30.5 points in the standings after a disastrous weekend in Germany, which saw him crash in the warm-up, go off at the first corner, and then retire for good in another tangle three laps later.

"It's not the way that you want to go into your home GP, with three crashes on the race day last time," Smith admitted.

"Up until that point the season had been going pretty well. It gets you down, to make a mistake like that and then to be taken out of the race when it wasn't your fault and it's something that means so much to you.

"But I've got to put that behind me now and focus on Donington Park, which should be a fantastic event for us as British riders. We've just got to make the most of this weekend."

He is confident that Simon, who stepped back to 125cc this year from the 250cc class, can still be caught.

"We've only just hit half way through the season, there are still 200 points up for grabs," Smith said. "We've seen how quickly things can change in one race, so who knows what could happen.

"Julian is going really fast at the moment so for all of us he's the one to beat. Everyone is struggling to keep up with his pace and consistency.

"Up to this point I've been the closest rider to him in terms of pace at most rounds, so I've just got to continue that and put things back on track this weekend."