Redding rides to top spot in first session

Scott Redding’s 22nd and final lap of the first Moto2 practice at Indianapolis on Friday placed the 17 year-old Brit at the top of the timesheet. An effort of 1’46.728 left the Marc VDS Racing Team 15-thousandths of a second ahead of Championship leader Toni Elías in a confidence-boosting start to his weekend.

Gresini Racing man Elías beat title rival Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) to second by 0.125s as the duo completed the top three, with Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2) just under two-hundredths back in fourth spot and also the final rider to duck under 1’47”.

The top eight was completed by Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar), Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing), Sergio Gadea (Tenerife 40 Pons) and Raffaele De Rosa (Tech3 Racing), with Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up) and wild card rider Jason DiSalvo (GP Tech) – on an FTR – also both inside the top ten.

Championship hopeful Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki) was 15th with Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP) down in 27th as a crash affected his session. Vladimir Ivanov (Gresini Racing) was another recipient of a fall, whilst wild card Roger Lee Hayden (American Honda) overcame an early mechanical issue with his Moriwaki machine to set the 23rd best time.