MotoGP: Scott Redding coy on Jerez chances

British 125GP sensation Scott Redding has played down his hopes of playing another starring role in this weekend’s Spanish MotoGP in Jerez.

Redding is still lapping up the plaudits after his remarkable world championship debut in Qatar earlier this month, when the 15-year-old became the youngest rider in history to claim a front row start.

He followed that up with a dazzling display in the first ever floodlit night race, claiming fifth place to miss out on a fairytale podium by just 0.2secs.

Heading to Jerez for his second 125 MotoGP, Scott Redding said he expected this weekend to be a much tougher proposition.

The Blusens Aprilia rider told MCN: “I’m not sure about this weekend because a lot of people go quite well there so it will be harder, and most of the riders have a lot of experience at Jerez with all the winter testing that is done there.

“There are going to be some tracks where I’m going to find it quite hard to learn. I’d tested in Qatar and I’ve tested in Jerez for the next race, but after that it might get a bit more difficult. But it’s easier to build from a good start than a bad one.”

Asked what he had learned the most from his brilliant Qatar performance that he could use in this weekend’s first European clash of 2008, Redding added: “It’s the way they slow down the race and build up again and go quicker right at the end.

“I think that’s why I came back to them so quickly in Qatar. I was riding hard but they were just saving their tyres for the big push at the end.

“But Qatar has boosted my confidence a lot because it was a track I didn’t know that well but I still managed to do well there.”

Like compatriot Danny Webb, Redding said he was also delighted to be part of early British success in 2008, with James Toseland and Bradley Smith also producing hugely impressive performances in Qatar.

“It’s amazing for all of us to be running close to the front. It is about time there was some British success in GPs.

“Some British riders have taken a lot of criticism and we haven’t had good results for a long time, but now it looks like there are a few of us who are going to be fighting at the front, and for me to be one of them is brilliant,” said the Gloucester rider.