A top ten finish remains the target as Scott Redding heads into the three flyaway races, which kick off this weekend with the Grand Prix of Japan at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit.

Redding endured a difficult weekend last time out in Aragon, missing out on a place in the all important second qualifying session and then finishing outside the top ten after encountering a number of technical issues in the race itself.

It was frustrating for the 22-year-old Briton, who arrived in Aragon off the back of his first ever MotoGP podium in a Misano race that saw riders changing bikes twice due to the weather.

It is not unknown for the weather to play a major part in proceedings in Japan too, with both rain and fog causing issues in recent years. However, the forecast currently predicts almost perfect weather over the race weekend, with only a slight chance of rain overnight on Saturday.

The Twin Ring Motegi circuit – so called because it features a 4.8km road course partly encompassed within a 2.5km superspeedway oval – has hosted MotoGP races since 1999. The track is stop start in nature, demanding a bike that is stable under braking, but able to accelerate hard out of the slower corners, of which there are a number.



Scott Redding:

“I quite like the Motegi track and I think it will suit the Honda RC213V. We have a few things we need to sort out after the Aragon race, where I struggled for rear grip and we had a couple of technical issues with the rear tyre and the rear suspension, but it’s important to keep a positive frame of mind going into these three flyaway races. It’s a tough schedule, with three races in as many weekends, as it only gives you two days to recover from one race before you’re back on track again. But it’s the same for everyone and you just have to get on with it. For me the target remains the same this weekend; to push for automatic entry into QP2 on Saturday and then to finish inside the top ten on Sunday.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal

“Aragon was a difficult weekend, with some issues for Scott in the race, but we have to put that behind us now and focus on the three races ahead of us, starting this weekend in Japan. Motegi is a stop start circuit that places unique demands on both bike and rider, so finding a good set up during the first two free practice sessions on Friday will be key this weekend. It’s important we secure a good result in Japan to boost Scott’s confidence ahead of Phillip Island, a track that Scott counts as one of his favourites and one where he has had some good results in the past.”