Bradley Smith to sign for Aspar Aprilia

Bradley Smith will sign for the Aspar Aprilia team in the 2009 125GP world championship later this week.

MCN has been told the deal will be officially confirmed on Friday, but Smith was given clearance to leave his current Polaris World Aprilia squad after his eighth place in a storm-lashed Indianapolis GP on Sunday.

Smith has been a target of Jorge Martinez’s since the summer of 2007 when the 17-year-old knocked back an offer to join the Spaniard for the ’08 campaign.

“I have admired Bradley for a long time and I wanted to sign him last season. For me he is one of the best young riders in the world championship at the moment and I think with us he can go to the next level.

“I think there is no doubt he has the potential to fight for the world championship next season and I am very confident he will be with us for 2009”, Martinez told MCN.