Positive opening day in Sepang for Redding
Sepang, Malaysia – 23 February 2015: Scott Redding declared himself satisfied with his progress aboard the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda RC213V, after finishing 11th on the timesheet on the opening day of the second MotoGP test of 2015 at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
Redding continued the process started in Sepang two weeks ago, working with his crew to find a good base set up on the Honda RC213V he’ll campaign this season, while also refining his riding style to better suit the characteristics of the factory bike.
The 22-year-old Briton evaluated a number of changes to the settings of both the suspension and electronics package, with positive results. As the onset of rain brought a premature end to the first day of testing, Redding commented that, for the first time, the Honda RC213V felt like ‘his bike’.
The Sepang test will continue tomorrow before concluding on Wednesday.
Scott Redding: 11th – 2’01.592
“The jet lag wasn’t good this morning, but I’m happy to be back on track after a couple of weeks at home thinking about where we could improve. There isn’t as much grip here as there was at the first test, but we’ve started to modify the bike a bit more today to help me better understand the electronics and the differences. I feel more comfortable and, for the first time, it feels like my bike. I tried a few things with my riding style and we’ve also tested different traction control settings for when the rear tyre starts spinning out of the turns, so it’s been a busy day. The gap to the other guys is still too far, but I’m moving in the right direction and, overall, I’m pretty satisfied because every change has brought an improvement and my lap time wasn’t so bad today.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“For the first time Scott commented today that the bike was starting to feel like his bike. To go fast any rider needs to have confidence in the bike, so this is a big step forward in the process we started here a few weeks ago. Our technical staff have worked methodically to find the best set up for our rider, while Scott has focussed on adapting his riding style to get the best from the bike. It’s been an effective approach, with improvements coming with every pit exit and Scott feeling much more comfortable on the bike than he did two weeks ago. Now we just need to continue in this way for the next two days of the test, during which I’m confident we can further close the gap to the top of the timesheet.”