Scott wraps up three-day Buriram testing with more steps forward
The three days of testing on the Thai Chang circuit were a fundamental stop along the way to approaching the first race of the season. This is especially true for Aprilia, busy developing the new 2018 RS-GP in its second outing after its Sepang début.
The workload in the garage was determined by the demands of a project that, although connected to the bike used last season, has undergone many changes. This means that the teams and riders need to understand the reactions to the changes in the setup, working at the same time on testing new components.
For Scott Redding and teammate Aleix Espargaro, this was also their first time on a track that is brand new to MotoGP. The decidedly particular, almost unique characteristics of the Thai track allowed the teams to take on new technical challenges, from which a lot of useful information was drawn in preparation for the next steps in view of the Qatar race.
Over the three days Scott ran 185 laps, putting his best time on the sheets in today’s session at 1’31.311.
SCOTT REDDING
“These tests were good overall. I am especially pleased with the consistent improvements, day by day, both in terms of development of the 2018 RS-GP and in terms of my feeling in the saddle. We did a tight testing schedule which was necessary in order to then define the technical package for the first race. This morning we took a step forward in terms of braking. Even if it gets a bit difficult to have the right reference when the temperatures rise, I think the direction we are going is promising. We are constantly working on several fronts because we are developing the new bike while I am adapting my style to the RS-GP. We could have been a few tenths faster on our time attack but, to be honest, I think that we have other priorities at the moment.”