Scott Redding: No reunion option with old crew chief for 2015

Scott Redding wasn’t given the opportunity to be reunited with former Moto2 crew chief Pete Benson when he returned to Marc VDS Racing to ride a factory Honda RC213V in MotoGP in 2015.

The Belgium-based squad is expanding into MotoGP with a one-rider effort for Redding this year and many anticipated the switch would see him rekindle his close relationship with respected Kiwi Benson.Redding and Benson worked together at Marc VDS in Moto2 for a four-year stint and came close to winning the intermediate title in 2013.

But team boss Michael Bartholemy said it was never a plan for them to join forces again in MotoGP.Benson, who helped Nicky Hayden win the 2006 MotoGP world title, worked with Tito Rabat last season and he will remain with the Spaniard in 2015, who is the first rider to stay in Moto2 to try and defend the title. 

And Bartholemy told MCN: “We have a successful Moto2 team and I would like to have a successful MotoGP team. The direction with Tito was planned and we have a good future with him and Pete is part of that and it was important for me to keep him there. He is one of the main people in the team. Tito made great job and together they won the title.  And we should never change a winning team because stability is very important.”

Redding approached Valentino Rossi’s legendary ex-chief engineer Jerry Burgess about a crew chief role before Jonathan Rea’s WSB technical head Chris Pike landed the role.

Pike and the rest of Redding’s 2015 crew are currently in Japan building up his new 2015 RC213V factory Honda in preparation for the start of winter testing at Sepang on February 4.