Estoril MotoGP: Luck deserts British Moto2 duo

Scott Redding and Bradley Smith were both frustrated and left pondering what might have been after they suffered a miserable Moto2 race in Portugal.

Having failed to score a single point in a disastrous opening two races, Marc VDS Racing rider Redding appeared back to his best as he challenged for a top six in the early stages of the 26-lap Estoril clash.

The 18-year-old was lying in seventh position and preparing to mount a podium attack in the second half of the race when he was the innocent victim of a rash move by current 125GP world champion Marc Marquez on lap eight.

Entering the braking zone for Turn 6, Marquez got in way too hot and slammed into Redding’s Suter MMXI machine, forcing the British rider into the gravel at high speed.

Redding had no choice but to lay his bike down in the gravel but despite fairing damage he remounted to finish 25th.

Redding was bitterly disappointed and he said: “To say I’m disappointed is an understatement because for the first time all year I felt really confident on the bike.

“We gambled on running a new clutch setting for the race and it felt great, even though I was still trying to learn the new set-up in the early laps.

“I wasn’t struggling to stop the bike like I was in qualifying and practice and I’d just settled into a fast and consistent pace and I was pretty happy just to sit where I was on the back of the top six and wait for the race to develop.

“And the next thing Marquez just slammed into me and there was no way I could save it. I heard his bike coming and then I’ve just got this big whack into my left leg and I’m running off the track. The wall was coming up pretty fast so I had to abandon ship.

“The fairing was damaged but I got back on track and my lap times were at least good enough for the top five. Maybe there was a podium if it wasn’t for Marquez’s stupid move but that’s racing and it was my turn to suffer.”

Oxfordshire rider Smith didn’t fair much better. The 20-year-old looked destined to secure his second successive Moto2 top six on board the Tech 3 Racing’s Mistral 610 machine.

But he suffered a rear tyre puncture and had to pit before eventually finishing down in 29th.

Smith said: “It was a difficult day and obviously we were unlucky to get a puncture in the race. At that point of the race I was already in quite a good position and I was feeling quite comfortable.

“The bike was getting better with every lap, so another top six wasn’t an unrealistic goal. But I had a lot of movement from the rear tyre and I couldn’t continue because I wasn’t exactly sure what the problem was.

“It is very disappointing as everybody has been working hard all weekend and put a lot of effort in. So when you don’t get the result you feel you deserve you can’t be happy.

“I still crossed the finish line even though I was two laps behind and we can still take valuable data to the next races, especially for Le Mans, which is the team’s home race and where I’ll be desperate to do well for them.”

For nine pages of coverage from the Estoril race, see the May 4 issue of MCN.