Britain’s Scott Redding has made it his mission to stick to fellow production Honda jockey Nicky Hayden during the opening MotoGP race of 2014 in Qatar in what will be the Gresini Honda man’s 100th GP.

Although testing has gone well for the Gloucestershire rider, he is up against factory Ducatis and almost-factory Yamahas in the new Open class, so will use 2006 world champion Hayden as a benchmark.

“Racing for the first time in MotoGP will be a great thrill, no doubt: after all, competing in the premier class is a dream for every rider. When I will line up my bike on the starting grid, for sure I will feel a little nervous, but also very curious to begin this new adventure and finally see what we can get,” said Redding.

“Our goal right now is to stay with Nicky Hayden and try to be the best Honda rider in the Open category, although it must be recognized that I still have to learn many things , from tyres behaviour to the electronics.

“I like a lot the Losail circuit, as well as racing at night: not being able to see anything else around the track is a strange but pleasant feeling, because it helps me to stay focused. Finally, it is very cool to think that my first MotoGP race will be exactly my 100th World Championship Grand Prix.”