Catalunya MotoGP: Scott Redding retires with crash damage

Scott Redding blamed damage sustained in a multi-rider first corner pile-up for his early exit from the Catalunya Moto2 race.

The British teenager was not one of nine riders to crash in the carnage caused by veteran Spaniard Alex Debon.

But in trying to take evasive action he was hit by Thailand’s Ratthapark Wilairot.
Redding dropped well outside of the top 20 before mounting a spirited fightback to get into 16th by the fifth lap. 

The Marc VDS Racing rider started to fall back off the pace and having dropped outside the top 20 he retired at the end of lap 12, worried that the crash damage might lead to a crash Redding, who was fourth in last month’s British GP at Silverstone, said: “I came into the first turn on the outside of the pack, so I wasn’t involved in the crash itself, but I did have to run out wide to avoid the bikes and riders sliding towards the gravel trap. Just as I straightened the bike up I got a good whack from behind off another rider.

“After the collision the bike just didn’t feel right and the handling got worse with every lap. I couldn’t see anything obviously wrong with it, but after just a few more laps it had worsened to the point where the bike was almost impossible to ride.

“I was a bit worried that it might be something serious so, rather than cause a crash I decided to retire. I’m disappointed both for myself and for the team, because we put a lot of work in this weekend and we had a good chance of a strong result here.”