HRC: Scott Redding worthy of factory RC213V chance

HRC boss Livio Suppo believes highly rated Briton Scott Redding fully deserves his big chance to show his potential on a factory Honda RC213V in MotoGP this year.

Redding will return to the Marc VDS Racing set up after the Belgium-based squad opted to expand with a one-rider MotoGP project just for the Gloucestershire rider in 2015.

Redding signed a two-year deal after a turbulent six-week spell for the 2013 Moto2 runner-up last summer.

He had initially been expected to ride a factory Honda RC213V in Fausto Gresini’s Italian-based satellite squad in 2015. But that deal collapsed when it emerged Gresini didn’t have sufficient funding to lease the bike, valued at nearly £3m, for Redding.

Redding flirted with the idea of joining Pramac Ducati and he even visited Aprilia’s factory, as they expressed big interest in him partnering Alvaro Bautista on its new premier class project next season.

But super rich tycoon Marc van der Straten agreed to step in and lease the vacant RC213V in a three-year deal with HRC.

And Honda boss Livio Suppo reckons Redding, who rode a production Honda RCV1000R for Gresini last season, is worthy of the chance to take his career to the next level on more competitive machinery.

Suppo told MCN: “I believe Scott has good potential and he did a good job. It is a great opportunity for Scott to show what he can do and also for the team. They have been doing extremely well in Moto2 and while it is a pity that we won’t be continuing with Gresini, to have the best Moto2 team move into MotoGP is good for the championship.”

Redding will make his second pre-season appearance on the RC213V machine when winter testing resumes at the Sepang track in Malaysia on February 4.