Bradley Smith has been confirmed as a KTM factory rider in the MotoGP series for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
The British rider has competed in the top tier motorcycle racing series for the last three seasons, as part of the Monster Tech3 team.
Last year he finished sixth in the championship for Yamaha, scoring one podium and 181 points in total. He took the chequered flag at the 2016 season opener in Qatar in eighth place.
Now Smith has been confirmed as a factory rider at KTM for the next two years, following the roll-out of the project last October at Austria’s Red Bull Ring.
Numerous tests with the new KTM RC16 have taken place so far and the bike will be officially presented at this year’s round in Austria in August.
"The MotoGP project is running exactly according to plan," said KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer.
"Both the engineers at the factory and the test team are achieving highly professional work with two bikes and their test riders.
"By signing Bradley Smith as factory rider for two years we can now take the next step in the long journey to MotoGP."
