The Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team pair of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith eagerly await next weekend’s challenge at the meandering Mugello circuit and are confident of obtaining two strong results at the iconic event in Italy.

Pol Espargaro fully intends to finish, for the third consecutive time, at the front of the battle for the top independent team position in Sunday’s 23 lap sprint. The young Spaniard plans to follow up his impressive placement of 5th, his best of the 2016 campaign, at the team’s Home Grand Prix in Le Mans, with another top tier result in Tuscany.

Meanwhile, Bradley Smith will seek to confirm his return to form by battling with his teammate for the top satellite position. The young Briton, who made significant progress at the previous round after experiencing a difficult start to the season, is keen to get back to action at a track which he truly enjoys riding at. The 25-year-old aims to take amends straight away with his target being a valuable finish at Mugello.

Pol Espargaro -  Championship: 6 Points: 47 

"As usual, I am looking forward to going to Mugello and racing at the world famous circuit. There really is no track like it on the planet and it is one of my favourite Grand Prix’s. Having said that, we know that this weekend will be a real challenge because the circuit demands speed, especially with the long straight. I truly believe that it won’t be easy to fight against the satellite Ducati’s who will certainly be strong because of their power on their home track. Yet, we will do our best to come out on top and we have to get another good result in order to continue the progression that we have made so far this year. The team and I have made some positive steps forward since the Jerez test and I feel confident on the bike now, so we need to get to work straight away in order to reach our target of being the top independent rider on Sunday afternoon again."

Bradley Smith -  Championship: 14 Points: 20 

"This weekend we will ride on my favourite circuit and it goes without saying that I’m excited as always for the challenge. The track itself is truly breath-taking and I have ran well there in the past, winning in the 125 class and obtaining a memorable second place in Moto2 in 2011 aboard the Tech3 Mistral 610 plus also finishing in 5th last year. Therefore, it would be great to put another solid result on the score sheet on Sunday and get back to where I should be. Of course, the top speed factor will be vital at Mugello due to the main straight, and we expect big competition from the Ducati bikes who test there a lot. Nevertheless, the straight is just one section of the track, and the Yamaha is suited to the meandering corners so I know that we can be competitive especially after the constructive work that we have done recently. For sure, it was disappointing to fall at the Le Mans race, but I am fully confident of rectifying this in Italy and I can’t wait to get going."

Hervé Poncharal - Team manager : 

“The next event is a favourite for all of the riders and MotoGP fans due to its spectacular layout and the guaranteed promise of some amazing racing. We have had some good memories at this track and there have been a lot of incredible races in the past so we look forward to adding another exciting show this year, hopefully with Pol and Brad being part of the main story. Pol did a great job in Le Mans and picked up his best result of the season after a fantastic qualifying performance. He made some great progress at the Jerez test and we are fully confident in his ability, so we are sure that he can once again, seize the top independent rider position. As for Brad, we are convinced that he can bounce back strongly and finish well in Italy. He has also made some really constructive work with the team at the test and at Le Mans and he now feels very confident on the bike. Therefore, we expect him to be right up there with his teammate fighting as close as possible to the factory MotoGP bikes. It will be an interesting weekend as always, but we are looking forward to racing at the Mugello circuit in the beautiful Tuscan hills.”