Britain’s Scott Redding has changed almost everything about the way he rides a bike in order to adapt to the almost-works Honda RC213V he will campaign in this year’s MotoGP series in order to get the best from it.
The Estrella Galicia Marc VDS man, who is still recovering from breaking his sternum at the Superprestigio, has treated the Sepang test as a huge learning experience and says he has had to start from scratch with the Honda as it is so different from the Open class RCV1000R he rode last season.
“I have changed my riding style, my body position, my braking, my throttle, everything is completely different. I have had to start from scratch with this bike, we had no electronics on so we can really understand,” said Redding, speaking at Sepang.
“Last year’s bike had less power and the soft tyre. This bike you have to use that power and it’s hard for me to do that as I have always had to carry the speed - having to slow myself down to go faster. But every time I go out, I am getting faster, on my own and consistent.”
“It’s just the braking style and character, the way you use it. You see Marc always sideways and deep into. Trying to do that is difficult because the lines are a lot stranger so it’s a matter of finding the keys to get you to that position like he does.
“We made another step in the laptime and in the learning. Big step in my throttle techniques and braking techniques. We just started to change a little bit on the bike which was again another learning day for me, to understand the bike a bit more.”
Redding ended the three-day test 2.4s slower than Marc Marquez on the combined sheets but said that he is making progress and aims to be in a position to fight for a top-six place at Qatar.
“I am too far from the laptime to do a race simulation, plus my injury from the winter doesn’t help. What’s the point if you’re two seconds off the pace, we need to wait until we are a bit closer.
“I’m not targeting Marquez, I am targeting top six and we’re not that far. On this circuit on this bike, it’s not far, you can lose a tenth in a wheelie. We’re not looking for a laptime, it’s progress and taking our time to understand it.”
