Redding: I have the feeling back…

Scott Redding says he’s delighted to recapture his comfortable feeling with the Aprilia RS-GP bike during Friday practice at the Argentina MotoGP as he closed in on the top ten.

The British rider ended FP2 11^th on the timesheet, just 0.039s slower than teammate Aleix Espargaro, which promoted him to 13^th place on the combined times for Friday at Termas de Rio Hondo which has given him a huge boost going into this weekend after a nightmare race in Qatar.

The 25-year-old conceded he lost all feeling and control with his MotoGP bike on his Aprilia debut at the 2018 opener last time out and while his Italian team ran a thorough investigation into the issue Redding says his feeling still remains poor with the bike which has the newest specification of RS-GP engine.

However, Redding says his feeling with his second Aprilia bike was ideal and despite suffering with back pain he’s pleased with his progress in Argentina.

“We’re using the bike two from Qatar, we tested the bike one halfway through the second session and it was the same feeling as Qatar,” Redding said. “So one positive is that I have the feeling back with the bike and I am happy with that.

“They checked everything again so maybe we need to build a new bike and see because if they don’t see anything then it should be the same. I am quite happy because I have got my feeling back that I had at the testing and I can feel what I am doing on the bike. I am where I feel I should be and doing so I’m really happy with that.”

Redding required a pain-killing injection after FP1 in Argentina due to a back injury tweaked while training before this weekend but is confident he’ll be able to power through the discomfort this weekend.

“This morning I was riding in the first session and couldn’t even get off the bike, I was almost crying in the helmet,” he said. “In the end I had to take the injection to reduce the pain and that helped me quite a lot on the bike.

“I’m generally quite happy and I feel a little bit relieved as pressure is off my shoulders as I don’t feel I am losing my mind.”