BRADLEY Smith believes Aprilia could have an edge over their rivals as they travel to their ‘home’ circuit for back-to-back races.

The Forest Hill rider will tomorrow line-up on the grid for the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano – a track where his team have put in plenty of miles in testing.

This weekend’s race, plus the Emilia Romagna event seven days later, will be the first of the season to admit fans, with a maximum of 10,000 allowed in across the three days.

It is extra motivation for Smith, who is 19th in the riders’ championship with eight points.

After a three-week break since the previous race in Austria, the 29-year-old is raring to add to his tally.

He said: “The testing we did on this track could potentially give us a slight advantage.

“This is Aprilia’s home race and it is on a circuit where the RS-GP has historically performed well.

“I can’t wait to get back on the track.

“We have worked hard up to now trying to make up for the time we lost at the season start.

“We did well on our ‘homework’, but this is the time to take a step forward in terms of performance.

“The new project certainly has the potential to do it.”