Smith looking forward to World Supersport's floodlit finale
Kyle Smith is preparing for this weekend's final round of the 2015 World Supersport championship at Losail International Circuit near Doha in Qatar on his Honda CBR600RR machine.
The 24-year-old British rider has raced under the floodlights at Qatar once before during a season of Moto2 competition, but Smith is looking forward to riding the more powerful CBR around the fast-flowing 5.380km Losail circuit.
Smith has motivation enough, too, as he aims to edge out fellow Honda rider Gino Rea for fifth place in the overall points standings. He currently sits just six points behind Rea so a podium finish for Smith is the minimum target.
After successive podiums in rounds three and four earlier in this, his debut World Supersport season, Smith has finished in the top five in each of the last three races and he is determined to end 2015 on a high.
Kyle Smith
I raced Moto2 here in 2013 in the first part of the season and I really enjoyed it, especially riding under the lights, which is pretty cool. It took me back to my supercross days when I was a young lad! It's a great place to finish the season and I'm determined to finish on a high, like I'm sure everyone else is. But it should be exciting - there's nothing to win or lose in the championship so I'm just going to go for it!
Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator
We know the CBR is strong and capable of winning races and Kyle has shown on many occasions this season that he has the potential to take it to the front. This weekend everyone will be working really hard, as we've done all this year, to bring everything together into a race-winning package so that we can end the season on a really positive note.