Bradley Smith is hopeful that he will be in contention for victory at Mugello this weekend as the MotoGP season switches to Italy.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Smith, who is currently seventh in the world standings, tussled with Andrea Iannone and Marc Marquez in the last outing in France.

"With regards to the Yamaha, the flowing nature of the circuit suits us and as long as I ride smoothly, I feel that we can clinch a good result," Crash.net quotes Smith as saying.

"Last race, I was right in the hunt with Iannone and Marquez in the final section of the race, so I hope to be in a similar position this time around on Sunday afternoon.

"As always, we will try to hit the ground running and we will look to get everything set up as soon as possible so that we can have a strong qualifying which is vital in order to close the weekend with a positive result in the race."

Smith is one point behind fellow Brit Cal Crutchlow, who is in sixth place.