BRADLEY Smith produced a strong showing to finish seventh in the Italian MotoGP.

Oxford’s Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider made a flying start from eighth on the grid in Mugello to take third place at the opening corner.

Despite being shuffled back, Smith kept his nerve and was happy with his finishing position.

“I didn’t have great pace at the beginning, but I aimed to stay as close as possible to the guys in front because I knew that my pace would be better later on,” he said.

“It has taken us until the sixth round to get to where we were last year, but we have plenty more races to go to make up the points we lost at the start of the season.”