"On my first lap I fell in love with the bike," Scott Redding said when he climbed off his new Octo Pramac Ducati after putting in 52 circuits of the Ricardo Tormo track in the MotoGP tests here in Valencia.

The 22-year-old faced a huge number of changes from his last outing with Honda 48 hours earlier in Sunday's Valencian Grand Prix - different manufacturer, different tyres, new team, new ECU unit. But he handled the situation brilliantly, and brought huge smiles to the face of Pramac team manager Francesco Guidotti.

Redding has stepped away from the world's biggest motorcycle manufacturer by abandoning the Honda RC213V run by the Marc VDS team, but was in no doubt that he had made the right decision. "I found the Ducati easier to ride, and found the line," he said.

"We had a small crash in the afternoon, because we pushed a lot on the front, but tomorrow we have some more space. There was more power than with the Honda, but it was easier to use. You can get on the gas earlier, and on the straight the bike is more level, not always making a big wheelie. It was a big advantage not to fight all the time with the bike and be able to find a good line."

He summed up: "I feel at home with the team already."