SCOTT HUSTLES HIS WAY TO A POLE
POSITION QUALIFYING TIME OF 1:40.295.
This would have put him 11th on the
grid at the Grand Prix 2 weeks before !!
POSITION QUALIFYING TIME OF 1:40.295.
This would have put him 11th on the
grid at the Grand Prix 2 weeks before !!
Scott Redding #45 -
A COMMANDING WIN AT VALENCIA
IT’S OK, THEY’VE SAID I CAN HAVE
A NEW TYRE FOR THE LAST ROUND
A NEW TYRE FOR THE LAST ROUND
Page End
ROUND 6 at Valencia GP Circuit 17th & 18 November
An incredible entry of over 90 riders for the penultimate round of the CEV series made the qualifying a major event and, as had happened on a number of occasions before, meant that with a start grid of only 36 places a number of riders would be leaving for home before the race even began. The circuit, set in Cheste just outside Valencia town, has a habit of being a colder than the main town, which is alongside the sea, so it was not so surprising that the Friday free practice was held in very much cooler conditions than the Spanish circuits normally see. The midday sun only succeeded in pushing the top temperatures to around 14 degrees. These colder conditions lead to a lot less grip being available from the Dunlop tyres universally fitted to all the riders machines and lap times were not as quick as might have been expected although second fastest in these free sessions for Scott was certainly well up to expectations.
Saturday qualifying for the 125 bikes was little better temperature wise and the first sessions were relatively slow for the standard of rider, with the front runners lapping in the 1 minute 41 seconds bracket. By the second session the sun had made its mark a little and a 16 degree temperature allowed the riders to put in some quicker times and for the second CEV round in a row Scott was able to set a pole time. The 1 minute 40.292 second lap was, for the cool conditions, little short of incredible and was a quarter of a second quicker than his GP experienced team mate and current series leader Stephan Bradl and little short of half a second quicker than another seasoned GP rider, Alex Masbou, who were second and third quickest respectively.
Although more used to riding in these cooler conditions than many of the other riders the six strong British contingent (in addition to Scott) that had turned up for this round of the CEV all failed to qualify with the exception of Luke Jones, the BSB 125 class winner, who just qualified to put himself on the grid.
Sunday “Warm Up” was rather misnamed as the weather was still cold but Scott did his usual, almost casual, few laps to finalise his settings coming into the “box” a couple of times to change things and finally was second quickest. The race start, at two in the afternoon, saw not too much improvement in temperature and it was obvious that race laps were never going to be startlingly quick and so it proved, but this was of no concern to Scott who, as at the previous round, lead from start to finish but, unlike last time which went to the wire, was at one time leading by twelve seconds until easing off for the final laps to be 9.8 seconds ahead at the finish. With Bradl finishing in fourth behind Masbou and Vazquez Scott moves into second place 13 points behind Bradl and 3 points ahead of Tutusaus, who finished in sixth place. The mathematics still make it possible for an overall win but ,as we all know, mathematics and racing are very much not the same thing.
The final show down round is one week away on the 24th and 25th of November at the Jerez de la Frontera GP circuit in the very South West of Spain close to the Portuguese border. Should, hopefully, be somewhat warmer.
An incredible entry of over 90 riders for the penultimate round of the CEV series made the qualifying a major event and, as had happened on a number of occasions before, meant that with a start grid of only 36 places a number of riders would be leaving for home before the race even began. The circuit, set in Cheste just outside Valencia town, has a habit of being a colder than the main town, which is alongside the sea, so it was not so surprising that the Friday free practice was held in very much cooler conditions than the Spanish circuits normally see. The midday sun only succeeded in pushing the top temperatures to around 14 degrees. These colder conditions lead to a lot less grip being available from the Dunlop tyres universally fitted to all the riders machines and lap times were not as quick as might have been expected although second fastest in these free sessions for Scott was certainly well up to expectations.
Saturday qualifying for the 125 bikes was little better temperature wise and the first sessions were relatively slow for the standard of rider, with the front runners lapping in the 1 minute 41 seconds bracket. By the second session the sun had made its mark a little and a 16 degree temperature allowed the riders to put in some quicker times and for the second CEV round in a row Scott was able to set a pole time. The 1 minute 40.292 second lap was, for the cool conditions, little short of incredible and was a quarter of a second quicker than his GP experienced team mate and current series leader Stephan Bradl and little short of half a second quicker than another seasoned GP rider, Alex Masbou, who were second and third quickest respectively.
Although more used to riding in these cooler conditions than many of the other riders the six strong British contingent (in addition to Scott) that had turned up for this round of the CEV all failed to qualify with the exception of Luke Jones, the BSB 125 class winner, who just qualified to put himself on the grid.
Sunday “Warm Up” was rather misnamed as the weather was still cold but Scott did his usual, almost casual, few laps to finalise his settings coming into the “box” a couple of times to change things and finally was second quickest. The race start, at two in the afternoon, saw not too much improvement in temperature and it was obvious that race laps were never going to be startlingly quick and so it proved, but this was of no concern to Scott who, as at the previous round, lead from start to finish but, unlike last time which went to the wire, was at one time leading by twelve seconds until easing off for the final laps to be 9.8 seconds ahead at the finish. With Bradl finishing in fourth behind Masbou and Vazquez Scott moves into second place 13 points behind Bradl and 3 points ahead of Tutusaus, who finished in sixth place. The mathematics still make it possible for an overall win but ,as we all know, mathematics and racing are very much not the same thing.
The final show down round is one week away on the 24th and 25th of November at the Jerez de la Frontera GP circuit in the very South West of Spain close to the Portuguese border. Should, hopefully, be somewhat warmer.
UK sponsors:
GREAT TO BE ON THE TOP STEP OF THE PODIUM AGAIN
RIDING HARD IN THE RACE
CELEBRATING IN STYLE AFTER
