MotoGP: Redding happy with Qatar breakthrough

Scott Redding has come away from the final preseason test of 2017 much happier with his level on the Pramac Ducati, after making a significant breakthrough on the second day of the three-day outing.

Finally finding the front feeling that he’s been searching for throughout the preseason, the decision to switch back to the fork internals from his old GP15 machine seems to have made all the difference to his confidence.

“Having the front feeling come back to me has been the main thing, and it’s given me a lot of confidence. Now, when the front locks, I know what it’s going to do and I can control it, and it seems everything we’ve did this test has improved that feeling.

“I’m very happy with how things went in these three days in Qatar following the difficulties encountered in Malaysia and Australia. We did a great job in particular by improving the feeling with the front end. There is still something to do, but the direction is the right one and I’m very confident for the race. We have made progress day by day. And I have the feeling that I could do even better on the time attack. At the same time, I’m also pleased with the pace that I can still improve.”

And on the other side of the garage, teammate Danilo Petrucci also comes away happy despite finishing back in 18^th place. Completing a fast race run on the final day, he says that while single lap speed might not be there, his race pace is.

“It was a quite complicated test. We had so many new things to try even today. The problem is that I have not spent enough time on track. As a result, it was difficult to find the pace but in the race simulation I went very well and this gives me great confidence. Of course I should be able to do better with the new tire, but that does not matter if we think of the race distance. I go home with a good feeling and I’m looking forward to returning in Qatar in a week to focus only on performances.”