Scott Redding had positives to take away from the second Sepang pre-season test despite falling away from the leaders on the final day. The Briton was 1.580s away from pacesetter Marc Marquez having been much closer earlier in the week and although Redding was disappointed with the drop-off, there was still reason for the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider to be cheerful.
“I’m not really satisfied that the gap to the front increased today; yesterday we were under a second away, but today we’re 1.5s off. On a more positive note, I’ve learnt a lot about the bike and my riding style, especially under braking and on corner entry, and my lap times have been consistently in the two-minute bracket. I was lacking traction out of the slower turns; I felt good in the fast corners, but exiting the last corner for example I was struggling to find grip and lost a bit of time. My target for this test was a lap time of 2’00.4 so we missed that by a few tenths, but I’m happy enough with what we’ve achieved over the three days here”.
Team Principal Michael Bartholemy also chose to see the positives and doesn’t think the overall timesheet gives a true reflection of their performance.
“Although our position on the timesheet doesn’t reflect it, this has been an extremely positive three-day test for both Scott and the team. Scott has made a big step forward here; he feels more comfortable on the bike and he now has a far better understanding about how to get the best from it. Together with the team he has focussed on improving both the set up and his feeling with the bike and we can see from the data that we have made significant steps forward in a number of areas. Now we will head to the next test in Qatar, a track that Scott likes, where we need to put everything together and focus a little more on lap times. I’m confident, given what we’ve learnt here in Sepang, that we can do this.”
