Scott Redding finished the opening day at the Japanese Grand Prix in 12th position, but is confident of further improvement tomorrow during the all-important third and final free practice session.

Redding struggled a little this morning on a Motegi circuit with more grip than in previous years, but then made a significant step forward in the second free practice session this afternoon, setting his fastest time on the harder of the rear tyre options. The 22-year-old Briton had hoped to break into the 1’45s bracket, but missed out by the narrowest of margins.

The softer option rear tyre, available only to open class riders, offers a big advantage here at Motegi, so Redding is targeting a top ten finish in the third and final free practice session tomorrow morning, to give him an automatic entry into the second qualifying shootout, where he’ll be competing for a grid position against the factory riders on the same tyres.



Scott Redding: 12th – 1’46.074

“This morning was difficult, not because of any problems, but because we had to make some changes to the electronics to account for the extra grip that’s available here this year. In the afternoon we started to make some progress, with the lap times getting faster and faster, with my quickest lap coming on the harder option rear tyre. I would have liked to have got into the 1’45s bracket, and I did try, but we didn’t quite get there today. I feel quite comfortable with the bike, we’re just missing a little from mid-corner to exit, but I’m sure we can make further improvements to both the bike and the lap time tomorrow. The soft tyre will be a big advantage here at Motegi, so avoiding the first qualifying session will be important, which means I need to push for the top ten in the final free practice session tomorrow. Overall I’m pretty satisfied with today.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal 

“Of course, we’d like to have finished inside the top ten today, so we could be sure for tomorrow, but Scott’s last two or three laps this afternoon were not so bad. Just one time he hit traffic and a second time he made a small mistake but I think there can be a chance for us to go straight into the second qualifying shootout tomorrow with a top ten finish in FP3. Which would mean we'd avoid the first qualifying session, where the soft rear tyre will offer a big advantage to those that can use it.”