Britain’s Bradley Smith will embark on the 2015 MotoGP season at Qatar tomorrow knowing that it could be make or break in terms of his future in the blue riband class.

The Monster Yamaha man is aware that he will have to finish as the top satellite rider this year, and by default top British rider, on order to keep his place on the 2016 grid and that is no mean feat given he has team-mate Pol Espargaro, Cal Crutchlow and Scott Redding to deal with.

“I’m under no illusions, this is the biggest year of my career with that one year contract. The experience I gained from a pretty wretched season last year will be a massive help. It happened to me in 2008 and I went on to finish runner-up in that championship the next year,” said Smith.

“The bike Yamaha have given us is fantastic after all the work they did in the second half of last season, but those first three races will be crucial. The first person you want to beat is your team-mate. We are friendly enough with each other and do what we have to do, but both of us want the same thing.”