Bancaja Aprilia's Bradley Smith has vowed to keep his MotoGP 125cc championship hopes alive until at the least the penultimate round at Sepang by beating team-mate and series leader Julian Simon in Australia this weekend.

The Oxfordhsire copper-top has taken three podiums from the last three rounds, while Simon could only finish down the order in Estoril, and rates Phillip Island as one of his favourite tracks.

"Three podiums from the last three races shows that both myself and the bike are in good form and I'm looking forward to the next race in Australia because Phillip Island is one of my favourite circuits," said Smith.

"The long haul races are always tricky because of the travelling but I have tried to get some rest and make sure I'm 100 per cent ready for this one. Like I say I love the track, in particular turn one, which is one of the most impressive corners on the circuit.

"The only downside is the wind and you're always dependent on it because it can really affect your riding. My objective is to keep the championship alive at least until Malaysia and to do that I need to finish ahead of Julito. If possible I'd like to score another podium and collect as many points as possible to help secure second in the championship."