Phillip Island, Australia – 16 October 2015: Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider, Scott Redding, finished 17th fastest after a difficult opening day of practice at Phillip Island.

With rain threatening at the circuit for much of the day there was a clear sense of relief in the paddock when afternoon practice took place in almost perfect conditions. It was a different situation this morning, with intermittent rain disrupting the opening free practice, reducing the time available for Redding and his crew to work out the optimum setting on his Honda RC213V.

With the track temperature varying by 15 degrees from the morning to afternoon the 22-year-old Briton struggled to find traction, with the rear tyre spinning up through the many fast turns here at Phillip Island, losing Redding valuable time in almost every corner.

The times were close across the field, with Redding placing 17th on the timesheet, despite being just under 1.4s off the provisional pole position time of Marc Márquez.

Scott Redding: 17th – 1’30.773
“Today was difficult. This afternoon we struggled to find any rear traction with the hard and extra hard tyre, with the bike spinning up everywhere. At a track like Phillip Island, with so many long, fast turns, if you don’t have the traction then you’re going nowhere. We’ll take a close look at the data tonight, because we need to find a solution for tomorrow. Initially we had an issue with the front too, but we solved that problem and I hope we can do the same for the rear.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“I think that we are still looking to find the right set up. Sometimes this season we've had this problem where it hasn't been easy to find a setting on the first day, mainly because we don't have any track information from previous years. Today Scott improved as the second free practice session progressed, but then so did everyone else, so the position remained the same. We need to make changes tonight so that Scott feels more comfortable on the bike. This is a track he likes, and one where he should be fast, but at the moment he’s unable to realise his full potential.”