M2: British GP: Marc VDS qualifying report

BEST QUALIFYING PERFORMANCE FOR REDDING

The Marc VDS Racing Team's Scott Redding will start tomorrow's British Grand Prix from 12th position on the grid, his best qualifying performance so far this season in the Moto2 class. Hector Faubel survived a big scare at the ultra-fast Woodcote turn, but was only able to qualify in 32nd position after losing track time to a technical problem with his Suter MMX machine.

Redding started this afternoon's qualifying session challenging for the top spot on the timesheet, as he battled on track with Yonny Hernandez. The 17-year-old Briton was well inside the top five when he returned to the Marc VDS pit box for fresh tyres, but started to drop down the order after experiencing chatter problems on his return to the track. At the chequered flag, Redding was happy to have secured his best grid position of the season so far, but disappointed to have been off the front two rows.

Faubel improved his lap time significantly during this morning's second free practice session and was looking forward to further improvements during qualifying. Unfortunately, just four laps into the session, the 26-year-old Spaniard snapped the steering damper bracket after running over the kerbs at Woodcote and was lucky not to crash. Repairing the bike robbed Faubel of valuable track time, with the Marc VDS rider only able to post one fast lap on his return to the track. Faubel will start from the eighth row of the grid tomorrow, but is determined to fight his way through the field in the race, just as he did last time out in Mugello.

Scott Redding #45: 12th - 2'10.768
"I had a right battle with Yonny Hernandez for a few laps at the start, which was great fun, and we were both putting in some good times. That was on a well-used rear, but when we swapped over to the new tyres I started to have problems. I couldn't seem to match my earlier times and I started to get chatter around the new section of track, which put paid to any improvement in my lap time. Starting from the third row gives me a much better chance than I've had previously. If I can get a good start and make up some places on the opening lap, then there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to run with the front group, because we have good pace here in race trim. Obviously I want to do well at my home race, and I'll certainly be giving it everything tomorrow."

Hector Faubel #55: 32nd - 2'11.948
"Just four laps into the session I gave myself a real fright at Woodcote, the very fast turn leading onto the start finish straight. I ran onto the kerb at the exit like normal and the steering damper bracket broke off. I thought I was going to have a very big crash, but I somehow managed to get the bike back onto the track and back to the pits. The mechanics did a fantastic job fixing everything in record time, but I returned to the session with only enough time for one more flying lap. This is a very wide track, with plenty of overtaking places, so I will have to try and repeat when I did at Mugello by fighting my way through the field in the race."

Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager
"It's great that Scott has had his best qualifying performance of the season so far, but our expectations were higher given his pace all through this weekend. It all looked good at the start of the session and we were expecting him to improve further towards the end, but then he had some problems with chatter and wasn't able to increase the pace. I feel sorry for Hector, as he was improving with every session and looked set to claim a good grid position until the steering damper bracket broke for the second time this season. He was lucky not to crash heavily, but he lost a lot of time while the problem was repaired. I hope that tomorrow in the race he will be able to fight his way through the pack, as he did in Mugello."

-source: marc vds