Bradley Smith kept up the championship pace in the Grand Prix of France at Le Mans, doing a professional job to bring his Aprilia 125cc home in fourth and collect more valuable points in the MotoGP championship.

On the back of his first career win in Spain two weeks ago, Oxfordshire teenager Smith just missed out on another podium finish.

He remains second in the championship standings, just five-and-a-half points behind teammate Julián Simón, who won the race – the fourth of the season – by a massive 27 seconds.

In an accident-strewn race on a wet track, many riders found conditions too difficult.

But Smith kept his concentration to pick up more valuable points.

“It was an unbelievable race and obviously I hoped to be on the podium because we had a good weekend overall and we have come here after winning at Jerez,” he said.

“The conditions were difficult though and I had some problems with the rear tyre which was slipping around so I wasn’t too confident on some of the corners.

“Still, we got some good points and we are second in the championship so we can move along to Mugello in Italy with confidence.”