Pata Honda rider Kyle Smith is aiming for a return to form on his Honda CBR600RR in this weekend’s seventh round World Superpsort championship race at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve near Portimao in Portugal.

After podium finishes at Aragon and Assen, the 23-year-old British rider crashed out of the following two races at Imola and Donington Park and is focused on a return to the front in this Sunday's 18-lap World Supersport race.

Smith is a big fan of the 4.592km track, situated 25km from the busy resort of Portimao on Portugal's Algarve coast, and the Spain-based rider enjoyed a good ride there on Honda’s CBR1000RR Fireblade SP in last season’s Superstock 1000 race, just missing out on a podium finish.

Kyle Smith   I’ve been thinking a lot about my riding since Donington, especially on how I can work better on setting the bike up. Donington was a new track for me and maybe I was concentrating too much on learning the circuit and not enough on the bike. I struggle with the front end in the early laps with a full tank of fuel and a new tyre; then I seem to be putting in my best laps towards the end of races, so I need to understand why that is. I really like the Portimao track though and had a good race there last year, so I’m looking forward to getting on the CBR again on Friday morning. Pieter Breddels technical co-ordinator   Kyle hasn’t had a good run lately, that’s clear, but we’ve all had a good look at the things we need to improve. We have some new components to try this weekend, especially at the front with a new fork setting, in order to get him a better feeling on the bike. But he knows and likes the Portimao circuit so that’s a good feeling to start the weekend with!