MotoGP: Redding with mixed emotions after top ten

Pramac Ducati rider Scott Redding was left with mixed emotions after Sunday’s race, pleased to have come home in seventh and as best of the GP16 Ducatis – but unhappy to have been limited by his usual bugbear, rear grip.

Struggling as he often does with grip issues, especially at the Misano’s six left hand corners, he says that seventh was the best he could do on the day at a track where he scored his first premier class podium back in 2015.

“I was happy with the result, but I expected a bit more – I just had no grip in the left side. I struggled a lot in the beginning and it was hard to just stay on the bike, and to keep that rhythm – you can see in my times that it was hard for me to be consistent. I’m happy too though, because we struggled all weekend, then we got a bit of rain and I did the best I could and got into the top ten.”

“But I couldn’t really use the weather to my advantage. I was stuck, a bit limited. To take a top ten is good, but I could have done with a bit more rear grip – the tyre was too hard, especially on the left side. We did the best we could with what we had.”

And that was compounded by the long race in wet conditions, with Sunday’s race time a good seven minutes longer than last year meaning that Redding admitted that it was a struggle at times to maintain concentration.

“It was hard. I had a good start, cutting through the field, but then I reached the limit and had forty minutes of intensity trying not to make a mistake with the front locking and the rear sliding. It was hard, but it was hard for everyone.

“I had a few big moments, at nearly every corner, and I knew that if I pushed any harder the risk was there. I just played it clever, and when I saw a few people crashing out I knew I just had to keep cool, even when Rins started putting pressure on me. I kept telling myself ‘don’t fucking crash like you did when they started pressuring you at Assen,’ and I managed to bring it back.”