MotoGP: Aprilia lifeline for Scott Redding?

The news that Miller has completed his move to Pramac looked set to leave current rider Scott Redding out in the cold, after a difficult start to the season left him far from the top of the list of any team manager looking to next year and beyond.

Speaking to MCN after another tough race last time out in Sachsenring, he admitted that this year has been soul-destroying for him as he struggles to be competitive in the premiere class.

“It’s been work, work, work and there’s been no breakthrough, nothing coming back my way. Just me giving my time and effort and getting nothing from it, and I never take the weight off my shoulders because I always go home thinking that it was a shit weekend.

“It’s not getting easier and it’s not making people think ‘oh that guy’s really got something.’ Instead, I’m going more and more backwards. We have to see what comes from it, but some decisions will be made in the summer break. I can’t change that though. I’d be a fool to say it’s 100% the bike, but it’s hard to keep coming back every week.”

However, MCN’s spies in the paddock are now suggesting that he could be extended a factory-backed lifeline at the expense of another British rider, with Redding the latest rider to be linked to Sam Lowes’ seat at the Aprilia team as the Noale manufacturer embark on yet another rider replacement circus.

Managed by Michael Bartholemy, one of the savviest men in the paddock, it’s unlikely that Redding will get the boot completely from the premiere class regardless of what happens, though, with Miller’s departure opening up a free seat at the Marc VDS team – where Bartholemy wears his other hat as team boss.