Bradley Smith on bancaja for 2009??

Bradley Smith made his Aspar Aprilia debut during testing at Valencia today (pictured).

The 18-year-old Briton, who took four podiums and three pole positions on his way to sixth in the 2008 standings for Polaris World Aprilia, will start his fourth season in the 125GP class as a firm title contender after signing for the Aspar outfit.

Smith made an instant impression for his new team by setting the fastest time of the day, 1min 41.7sec, which kept the #38 just ahead of team-mate Julian Simon.

The Aspar team took Gabor Talmacsi to the 2007 crown and third in the 2008 standings. Talmacsi will graduate to 250GP in 2009 and made his quarter-litre debut at Valencia on Monday.

As well as Aprilia's 125 and 250GP riders, the new Maxtra 125GP team were also present on track, with Michael Ranseder.