Bradley Smith is confident he can make a seamless transition from the current KTM to the updated version but warns the Austrian squad ‘can’t take any unnecessary risks’ in its development plan𒐪.

With Smith acting as the sole Red Bull KTM rider at its home round in Spielberg, the British rider secured a points finish with 14^th place having spent the opening stages of the ꩲrace battling against factory Yam🥂aha duo Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales plus Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa.

Having used the upgraded KTM engine - previously fitted to injured test and wild-card rider Mika Kallio's bikes - duꦆring free practice and qualifying in Brno, Smith reverted to his standard RC16 package in Austria due to technical problems, then kept the standard spec in Austria. However he is eager to push forward with the new specification for his home race at Silverstone.

It is believed the key modification with the new engine is a counter-rota꧃ting crankshaft, while some say it is already incorporateജd in the original 2018 engine, along with a number of unconfirmed chassis changes.

Smith says if he is able to use the upgraded KTM RC16 engine in Silverstone he can use ‘pretty much identiಞcal settings’ from the standard bike raced in Austria, but is uncertain whether his team will make the move to the upgraded package.

“If it is possible then the guys will bring everything they possibly can,” Smith s♓aid. “Of course, we’ve had the opportunity to try it and I know it is m🥃ore in the direction of my riding style but until it is 100% ready we can’t take any unnecessary risks.

“The great news is we can make it transfer right across [to the new] bike, which ꦺworks with pretty muc♋h identical settings. It's a case of everything I am doing at the moment [on the standard bike] is working towards making that better.

“The more I can improve the more I can get🐷 up the front and the better it will be for us in the long term. We had a fantastic weekend this weekend and let’s see ওwhat I can do at Silverstone.”

Smith missed out on points at his home round 12 months ago, finishing 17^th but 15 seconds off the top 15, while team-mate Pol Espargaro produced an impressive 11^th place result.

KTM is yet to confirm who will join Smith at the British round as the team waits to assess Espargaro’s recovery ಞfrom a nasty spine injury and brokenജ collarbone sustained at Brno last weekend.