Britain’s Bradley Smith has set himself a top-five finish target in Sunday’s Silverstone MotoGP round after getting a boost in testing after Brno.

The Monster Yamaha man spent almost the whole 60 laps running around with a full fuel load to help with his early-race pace and believes that with some rear suspension setup tweaks, he is looking at chasing the big four this weekend.

“Testing went well, so that was really positive. If I can get the pace in testing in the race then that would be good. We only tried some refinements and we found some direction with the rear shock setting and that looks good for Silverstone,” said Smith, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

“It was an information-gathering day. I was full of fuel on the bike and I was really pleased with the outcome, and we learnt how to make that work with the full fuel load. The testing times would have been good enough for top five, so that is positive.

“We have a good suspension setting. I just had a lack of grip with the tyre. I wanted to see if I could pass people on a full tank of fuel, and it helped me understand the bike better. It should be good for Silverstone.

“But the bike is working well, so I have no reason to be negative. It was not nice to finish ninth after Brno, but I rode my best. The pace at Brno was really strong, even with a full fuel tank. Top five is my aim at Silverstone, which I know is possible.”