Scott was in contention for a top six finish in the opening half of the race, the British rider surging into the top ten after seven laps as he illustrated his growing confidence with the Marc VDS Racing Suter MMXI machine.

The 18-year-old caught and passed teammate Kallio on lap eight, but a mistake in the braking zone for the first corner dented his hopes of a first top ten of the season. Scott dropped from ninth to 14th on lap 16 but he showed his grit and determination to fight his way back into 11th, finishing just over 0.4s behind Yonny Hernandez in ninth. Today’s result gives Scott confidence that he can fight for a top six result in his all-important home round in Silverstone next weekend.

Scott Redding #45 – 11th Position
“I would have liked to have been higher up but I’m relieved to have finally scored some points because with zero points from the first four races, I was beginning to worry it was never going to happen. I quickly found a fast pace and it didn’t take me long to get into the top ten, so I was feeling pretty confident of even fighting for a top six. But then I got bumped wide in the first corner and that put me off the back of the group. I caught Hernandez and Neukirchner but each time I tried to pass them on brakes I couldn’t stop the bike and at the first corner I kept running wide. At times I had to stand on the rear brake to stop running into the back of people. I feel ready for Silverstone now where I’m confident after today that I’m going to fighting closer to the front, hopefully with the support of a massive home crowd who have been amazing to me in the past.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager
“Today was mission accomplished because the main goal was for Mika and Scott to score some points and they did. Of course we want to be higher than eighth and 11th but after the first four races where we didn’t score any points, we’ve got to be satisfied and this can give us a platform to build on for the next run of races now we’re in a vital stage of the season. Mika proved by fighting in that group for fifth that he can battle with the fastest riders in this class. He could make up time on the entry but always on the exit he lost a bit too much, so we’ll need to work in that area to help him fight even more. Scott needed a positive result with Silverstone coming up next week and thankfully he got his first points, which takes the pressure off a little bit. Everybody has to be really happy that we scored points because we’ve had a lot of pressure with so many questions to answer, but we can erase this from our minds and build on today’s result.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing

Not Classified
Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 22 Laps
Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 22 Laps

*5-Johann Zarco: 20 seconds ride through substitute penalty

Scott was just unable to force his way into the top ten in yet another closely contested Moto2 qualifying session that saw just over 1.5s split the top 30. The 18-year-old’s growing confidence levels with the front-end of his MMXI machine was evident again today, with Redding ending free practice with the fifth fastest time.
He was denied a chance to join teammate Mika in the top 10 as he encountered heavy traffic in the final minutes of the session, as he sought to improve on a time of 1.47.558. Redding ended just 0.031s outside of the top 10.

Scott is now determined to score the first World Championship points of 2011 for the Marc VDS Racing Team in tomorrow’s 23-lap race.

Scott Redding #45 – 1.47.527– 18 laps – 11th position
“I’m happy with today even though I would have liked to have qualified inside the top ten. I showed all through practice that I was capable of being in the top five or six but at the end of the session I couldn’t find a clear track to improve my time. My confidence with the bike now feels like it is coming back to the same level I had at the end of 2010, so hopefully we can start converting that into decent results. We’ll try and find some more stability from the front-end because in the last corner the bike feels great on some laps and others not, so we need to get that more consistent for the race. But from where I’ve been all weekend in practice, I know we have the potential to move forward through the field and get a good race under my belt ahead of my home Grand Prix at Silverstone next weekend.”

Michael Bartholemy – Team Manager
“I’m really pleased to see Mika performing at the level we know he is capable of. It hasn’t an easy start to his Moto2 career but he has demonstrated that he’s willing to work hard and keep his motivation at 100 percent. He worked a lot with his crew chief Trevor Morris after Le Mans and their ideas together have clearly worked and now we can see Mika fighting for the position we expected right from the first race. He looks much more comfortable with the bike and it suits his style more and he has been fast all weekend. More importantly he’s made his lap times all on his own without any help, so we are optimistic for tomorrow. It’s a shame that Scott couldn’t join him in the top ten because he’s been of the fastest riders in practice and we thought he’d be competing for the second row. Scott’s confidence is growing each time he goes out on track, but the target now is for both riders to finish inside the top ten tomorrow, because we really need to start scoring points after a difficult start to the season.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing