MotoGP: Redding lucky to avoid injury in Bautista collision

Scott Redding was lucky to escape injury free from the second day of testing at Phillip Island today after a high-speed collision with fellow Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista on the start-finish straight of the Australian track.

Redding exited the last corner in the slipstream of the Spaniard only for a wobble to cause Bautista to roll off the throttle, launching Redding’s Pramac bike into his Aspar one, and leaving the pair lucky to escape without a fall.

However, speaking afterwards, Redding was quick to laugh off the incident.

“I was behind him again later and did think ‘oh, not again!’ It was just one of those things though, and I’m just happy we didn’t come out of it injured. If it had gone the wrong way, it would have been bad. I did think twice when I was back behind him again though!”

And Redding had plenty to smile about after the day’s action, too, as he solved some of the persistent issues he’s been having on his new GP16 bike.

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“I found back the confidence that I was missing in the first day. That’s why I am satisfied with what we have done and I thank the team for the good job they have done. The race pace is not bad while we are not working on time attack yet. I’m just glad to have found those riding sensations I knew.”

Bautista also had a strong finish to the day, taking the Pull&Bear Aspar bike to fifth overall and finishing delighted.

“Today we worked on improving the feeling from yesterday and we tried various things. We haven’t taken a big step but some small ones to improve my confidence. I have improved my pace quite a bit from yesterday but the truth is the track conditions were better and we have all improved. In the end we were a little more competitive than yesterday but I still don’t feel 100% like the last tests.

“We have gathered more data and for example tried some new tyres, which we found positive things with. In general it has been quite a complete day. Let’s see if we can continue to improve tomorrow and take some more steps in the right direction, which even though we can’t take giant steps will be important. We will work hard to make sure we leave here feeling as satisfied as possible.”

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