Scott Redding aims for improved qualifying

British rider Scott Redding has admitted he must dramatically improve his qualifying performances to bolster his hopes of a maiden top 15 Moto2 finish in Le Mans this weekend.

The Marc VDS Racing rider has seen his bid to score points in Qatar and Jerez undermined by poor qualifying results.

Redding has qualified 17th and 27th in the opening two races and subsequently given himself a mountain to climb in the fiercely competitive Moto2 series.

Less than 1.5s usually splits the top 25 in qualifying and the 17-year-old is hoping to find some qualifying form on the Suter MMX machine.

Redding, who finished a frantic Spanish Moto2 race in Jerez earlier this month in 16th position, said: “We made a step forward during the Jerez race, although it wasn’t really reflected in the result, but now we need to continue improving at Le Mans.

“Qualifying will be critical this weekend, as the off-camber chicane just before the Dunlop Bridge isn’t a place you want to be approaching mid-pack in a 40-rider field!

“As I learnt in Jerez, if you get caught in the pack then you spend the whole race swapping positions with the people around you and that just loses you time.

“We need to be up the front from the start and the easiest way to guarantee that is to secure a good grid position in qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

“A start from the first three rows would be good, but the front two rows would be a lot better.

“If we can do that then, hopefully, we’ll be in a position to bag our first championship points of the season in the race.”