Scott Redding is unconcerned by his lowly position at the end of the first pre-season test at Sepang, stressing that he hasn’t been chasing fast times this week. The Briton has been adjusting to his new factory-spec Honda RC213V and revealed today that the priority has been to learn at his own pace, rather than look for any meaningless headlines.
“The Honda RC213V is a lot different to ride than the bike I raced last year, so I came here to Sepang to learn how to get the best from it. It means we’ve been focused on the bike and me rather than the lap times and, as a result, we’ve made good progress. I’ve been running without a lot of electronics, just trying to adapt my riding style to suit better this bike. Like I said, I’m here to learn not chase lap times; the priority is to get comfortable on the bike, get a good feel for the brakes, for the suspension and to build my own confidence. Although the timesheet might not show it, I think we’ve achieved a lot here over the three days. The team is working well and I’m looking forward to returning to Sepang in a few weeks for the second test.”
Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS team principal Michael Bartholemy believes his rider has made much more progress than his 17th placed lap time would suggest.
“It’s been a very positive first test, even if that is not really reflected in the lap times. The new Honda RC213V is a good bike and Scott felt much more comfortable on it than he did in Valencia at the end of last year. His confidence has returned, almost to the same level as when he was riding in Moto2 and challenging for the title. Our aim at this test wasn’t to chase lap times, but to understand better the bike and to prepare fully for the first race, especially the end of the race when the tyres start to go off. We have made significant progress over the three days, with both Scott and the team doing a good job. Now we need to work towards the next test here at Sepang, to ensure we continue to improve.”
