Redding roars to stunning home success at Silverstone

Redding roars to stunning home success at Silverstone

Scott Redding produced one of the standout performances of his career today, the Marc VDS Racing rider storming to a sensational British Grand Prix success in front of a jubilant home crowd at Silverstone.

Redding brushed aside the pressure and expectation of racing in front of a home crowd of almost 74,000 fans to deliver a crucial win in an 18-lap race he controlled for the most part with some supreme riding on his Kalex Moto2 machine.

After leading for the first 11-laps, Redding was briefly dragged into an exciting podium battle with Takaaki Nakagami and Thomas Lüthi before he regained the advantage on lap 15.

The 20-year-old then rode a faultless final four laps to become the first British rider to win his home race in the intermediate class since Tom Herron at the Isle of Man TT in 1976.

It was Redding’s second success in front of his crowd after his career first victory in the 2008 125GP at Donington Park. Today’s win though carried huge significance, with the Briton extending his Moto2 World Championship to a commanding 38-points with six races remaining after closest rival Pol Espargaro could only finish eighth.

Redding’s outstanding ride was backed up by Brno winner Mika Kallio, who battled to a hard fought sixth position that keeps him firmly in the hunt for a top three position in the World Championship rankings.

Livio Loi fought his way through from 32nd on the grid to salvage a difficult Silverstone weekend with a top 20 finish in today’s British Moto3 Grand Prix. The 16-year-old Belgian bested a group of six riders to take 19th position at the chequered flag.

Scott Redding #45: 1st
“To come here to your home Grand Prix and stand on the top step of the podium in red, white and blue, well, it doesn’t get much better than that, really. I was happy with how the race panned out today. No pressure, no real mistakes and we got the result we came here for. To do it on a weekend when we’ve been celebrating the life of Barry Sheene, one of the all-time greats of motorcycle racing, was just the icing on the cake for me. The win today means I leave Silverstone with a 38 point lead in the championship and with one less race for my main rivals to try and reel me in. All in all, a good weekend all round.”

Mika Kallio #36: 6th
“All the weekend I’ve been a few tenths off the pace of the fastest riders and I couldn’t find the same good rhythm I had at Brno. Silverstone is a nice track, but for some reason it’s one that I’ve never really clicked with. But today was better; I was much closer to the front and that’s promising for the coming races, at circuits where I’ve gone well in the past. I got pushed out in turn one at the start and lost contact with the leading group. I was able to run with Tito Rabat early on, but I just didn’t have the pace needed to pass and he managed to get away after I ran wide later in the race. Not a great weekend by Brno standards, but I’m satisfied with the result today.”

Livio Loi #11: 19th
“After the problems in qualifying yesterday, it turned out not so bad today. Starting from 32nd on the grid was always going to make things tough, but I managed to push my way through into a big group and my lap times were faster in the race than in practice and qualifying yesterday. It was a big battle and I finished at the front of the group in 19th position. Hopefully, next time out in Misano, I can do the same in the next group and win the battle to take another points scoring finish. It’s been a difficult weekend, so I’m happy to come away with a top 20 finish.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“There’s not much I can say about Scott that hasn’t already been said. He rode a masterful race to give the fans exactly what they wanted here at Silverstone, a British rider on the top step of the podium. It’s the first time a British rider has won the intermediate class at the British Grand Prix in 37 years, which made it even more special. It was an impressive performance that was all the more important given the finishing positions of his main championship rivals. Scott now has a 38-point lead in the championship with just six races to go. Mika rode to a solid sixth, cementing his own position in the championship standings, on a track at which he’s had issues in the past. For Livio this has been another difficult weekend, with problems during practice and qualifying, but he acquitted himself well in the race, salvaging a top 20 finish and adding to his experience of fighting in a group. Overall it’s been a good weekend for the Marc VDS Racing Team here in Great Britain.”