Mugello MotoGP: Pressure builds on Scott Redding

Scott Redding has been warned his poor run of results in the Moto2 world championship must improve quickly after he slumped to a disappointing 27th place in Mugello.

The 18-year-old threatened to pull off a stunning top six finish in the early stages after he surged through from 28th on the grid to 13th in just three laps.

But when he was locked in a 12-rider group battling for seventh, he suddenly dropped off the pace with heat exhaustion as temperatures soared to 27 degrees.
Redding needed to be helped from his Marc VDS Racing Suter MMXI at the end of the race.

But team manager Michael Bartholemy was heavily critical of the Gloucestershire rider, who has failed to live up to pre-season expectations after a promising rookie campaign in 2010.

Finnish team-mate Mika Kallio was also criticised after he dropped from seventh to 17th with front and rear grip issues and Bartholemy said: “I don’t want to talk about deteriorating grip or heat exhaustion because, for me, neither was the biggest problem for us. We were missing the fighting spirit that was so evident in the riders battling the same issues at the front of the race, which is why we finished where we did.

“I am obviously disappointed, because the team has worked so hard this season and we didn’t see the same level of commitment from the riders. I want to see more commitment from both Mika and Scott next time out in Sachsenring; the same level of commitment we saw from the likes of Marc Marquez and Tom Lüthi.”

For full coverage of the Mugello Grand Prix, see Wednesday’s issue of MCN.