Teenage sensation Bradley Smith feels he has plenty to prove in front of his home support at the weekend's Nickel & Dime British Grand Prix.
The 16-year-old currently lies eighth in the 125cc world championship standings, heading into the series' latest round at the Leicestershire parkland circuit on Sunday.
And Smith, who hails from Oxford, is desperate to live up to his billing as the great young hope of British motorcycling.
His best result of the season to date came last month at Le Mans in France, where he finished third, and the Repsol Honda rider intends a return to the rostrum at Donington Park, the venue last year for the first points-scoring finish of his career.
Smith said: "All the compliments are good things for me to hear but you cannot listen to it too much, you have just got to keep concentrated on what you have got to do.
"The guys who are saying these nice things about me are big names in motorcycling, but at the moment I have not done much - I have only had one podium finish.
"So I am keeping on trying to improve and become more consistent in my results and hopefully I can be good one day.
"But Donington is my home race and home races are always that little bit more special - so many English fans come to the track and I love watching people cheering me on and wearing t-shirts saying 'Go Brad'.
"Plus, I enjoy Donington a lot because it is fun to race there.
"The use of the hills is always a great thing and you have good, fast sweeping sections and then tight and technical sections at the end of the lap."
And senior colleague Dani Pedrosa, who will ride for Repsol Honda in the premier-class MotoGP race on Sunday, is confident Smith can realise his potential.
The Spaniard said: "I know Bradley, he is a smart guy, and he has taken a step up from last year - a big step.
"He gets good advice and he has a good team around him so I hope he can keep moving forward."
Pedrosa lies third in the MotoGP rankings behind second-placed Valentino Rossi, on the Fiat Yamaha, and Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stoner.
But it was Pedrosa who was victorious at Donington last year though the 21-year-old admits his Honda is down on power compared to Rossi and Stoner's machines.
He said: "So far this season, it has been difficult to stay with Casey and Valentino.
"I have been trying to get there, but it has been a case of catching them at certain parts of races and then losing time and then catching them up again.
"But we are getting closer every time we race and I think we can step up our level again at Donington."
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