Q&A: Scott Redding - Learning How to Do It

Our man David Emmett is in Sepang right now, attending the first official winter test of the 2015 season. Getting a chance to speak with Scott Redding about his lap times and understanding the Honda RC213V race bike, David got a great insight into the mind of the young British rider.

As David wrote in his notes, “the team is much more closely knit than at Valencia, working together well, and the atmosphere is excellent. It feels like Redding and the Marc VDS are bursting with potential, but like a tree full of leaf buds, it will take some time before it explodes into its full glory.”

The following is a a full transcript of what Redding told David at Sepang. It’s a great insight into the mind of a rider, how they work, and how they hold long-term objectives in their minds. -JB

“It’s a difficult bike to ride, so I want to learn how to do it. It’s a lot more difficult bike to ride than the Open Honda.”

“I don’t really know why. I think it’s more because the riding ability is higher. We’re missing like half a tenth here, a tenth there, there’s nowhere where I’m losing half a second. At the beginning of the week, I was losing half a second in one corner. But if I focus on that corner, now I’m the same if not sometimes faster. But that’s everywhere. So I’m trying to learn a bit here, a bit there. Obviously with the track conditions changing, with the heat, it’s difficult to know, I can only go by what I’m seeing on the data, whether it’s better or not. And like today, we tried to put a lap time in at the end, but it was still a bit warm and it didn’t quite come, so I’m a bit disappointed with that.”

“But the progress I’m happy with. I’m not running much electronics, just throttle-to-hand so I know what power I have. And I feel quite good with not so much on it, to be honest. It’s just the learning for me, a new tire goes in, I try for a lap time, after that I’m learning, learning, learning. New tire, try for a lap time, learning, learning, learning. We’re not changing set up so much. Tomorrow we’re going to try a little bit, try and help with turning a little bit. But we’ve just put the suspension in more or less from Valencia, and went out and we haven’t really changed it since.”

What are you trying to learn?

“Just trying to learn the style. The riding style is quite a lot different. What I found, trying to go faster with this bike, you go slower. I’m counting in my head: ‘wait … go. Wait … go,’ and I’m trying not to hang off the bike so much like I was last year, trying to bring that in a little bit. It seems to be working alright, it’s not too bad. Then it’s just braking character, how you brake, if you keep the rear down you get it stopped faster, also it can change the way you turn into the corner. And then you see Marc, and he’s sliding in the braking. But the question is why? I know why he’s doing it, because his apex is a lot different. The strangest thing to me is that, where the apex should be, it’s not. You’re coming into a corner, you’re not aiming for the kerb, you’re not aiming for the apex, you’re aiming for two meters later. It’s a real strange way about it.”

“It’s the bike and the power, that’s why I’m trying to learn off the best guys. Not learn myself, because it takes a lot of time. Sure, Márquez didn’t learn himself, I know for certain he was studying [Casey] Stoner’s data day in, day out, to see how he was riding it. So that’s what we’re trying to do, we’re just trying to learn. I’m not worried about lap times so much, OK, it’s nice to see where we end up, but my main priorities for this test are: get comfortable on the bike – already comfortable. Have the feeling with the brakes and the forks – I have the feeling. And now it’s just learning the bike, learning the bike. Learn, learn, learn, that’s all I want to do. Nothing else.”

So there’s no point expecting a lap time from you this test?

“I’m not interested here or at the next test. Obviously, I want to put a lap time in, every rider does. But like today, it didn’t happen, and I was disappointed, but I shouldn’t be. I’ve gone back to my roots: I’m not here for the lap time, I’m here to learn. I might be a little slower now, but in the long run, I’ll be faster. It’s hard to explain, I’m kind of going for a lap time, but I’m not. A bit here, a bit there. The trouble is, track conditions get hot, the track gets slower, you start getting frustrated, but you’ve got to just learn. Now my lap time is getting a bit closer, I feel like I’m in with a chance, so I start pushing, and I start stressing, and I shouldn’t. I need to take a step back, keep learning, how to turn in with the rear, braking with angle, all these little things make a big difference.”

How’s it working with the team?

“Amazing, to be honest. Really good. I’m feeling really good, from the first day back, going out of pit lane, it feels really good. The team’s working really well together, we’re all communicating really well, I’m using all my resources really well, and that’s good. I feel happy, and I feel confident, which is the main thing. I feel really how I did two years ago, when I was fighting for the title. Everything’s prepared, we’ve got a plan, not stressed.”

“It’s hard for Chris [Pike] not to go for a lap time, because he’s a crew chief, I know he’s struggling with that, but I just said to him, it’s OK. Like yesterday, he was stressing, and I put the lap time in at the end, and he was almost like, phew, he did it. But if I didn’t, big deal. Here, it’s not a problem, but for him, it’s about lap time, which I can understand, but he needs to have a bit of faith in me. Which is difficult, because I’m 22 years of age, and he’s got a lot of experience, and it’s me asking him to have faith in me. It’s a bit strange.”

“And even myself, today I wanted that lap time, and I shouldn’t have, I should have just taken a step back. Kind of my fault. Like I said to the guys, ‘I ****ed it’. I tried too hard. I tried to find someone, just to look. Not for my lap time, but just to see what they’re doing. I kind of had two or three corners behind guys, and I’m just learning little things, a little bit of line, a little bit of pick up, a little bit of throttle. But no one will let me behind at all. Some guys come past, and they let people behind them, but if it’s me, no one. Nowhere. But OK, I’m here to learn.”

“I think it’s because I may be a bit of a threat in the future. Not yet, but they don’t want to show me their tricks, you know? But that’s normal I guess, really.”

This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.