BRADLEY Smith is aiming to further climb the world championship standings after a career-best effort in Australia yesterday.

The Oxfordshire Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider secured a first podium finish in the top tier of MotoGP after a sensational ride at Phillip Island.

Valentino Rossi marked his 250th premier class race with victory after world champion Marc Marquez crashed out with ten laps remaining.

Jorge Lorenzo finished second, with Smith third.

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And, buoyed by his display, the 23-year-old Brit is looking for more success in the final two races of the season.

“For sure it is a fantastic feeling to clinch my debut podium in the MotoGP class,” Smith said.

“I wasn’t too happy with how I was riding at the beginning of the race, I made several mistakes and lost a few positions.

“I told myself to calm down, I improved and moved forward.

“It’s a bit unexpected to be on the podium in all honesty, but after having great pace all weekend, it is the dream way to complete all of the good work that we have done recently.

“I passed the chequered flag and saw the team on the wall, so thought I was in fourth or fifth.

“But then I saw my name in third on the board as I came around the corner, which was an amazing feeling.

“Now we have closed the gap in the championship to sixth quite considerably, so we need to focus on this for the next two races.

“We will aim to continue this great run in Malaysia and try to climb two more positions in the final standings.”

Smith started the race from fourth place, missing out on a front-row position on the grid by 0.006 seconds.

But a poor opening part of the race saw him drop back to eighth.

However, after recovering well, Smith become involved in a four-way battle for fifth.

He went past Andrea Dovizioso and was cutting the gap to the third-placed rider as the race entered the closing stages.

The Oxfordshire rider then managed to roar over the finish line to secure a first podium finish – his first since Mugello in 2011 when he rode in the Moto2 class.

The result saw Smith climb to eighth in the overall standings, nine points off Aleix Espargaro and eight behind teammate Pol Esparagaro.

The riders now head to the Malaysia Grand Prix next weekend.

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