Britain’s Scott Redding wants to re-build his confidence in the Estrella Galicia Marc VDS Honda RC213V at this weekend’s Austin MotoGP round after a disappointing start to the season at Losail.

The Gloucestershire rider struggled with rear grip and front feeling at the desert circuit, and because he is substantially larger than the other Honda men, he has to find his own way with data and setup.

“After a successful test in Qatar the week before, we went into the opening race of the season quietly confident, but we were forced to change our expectations almost immediately, after running into issues with rear grip and feedback from the front in the very first practice session,” explained Redding.

“Over the course of the weekend we made a lot of changes to the bike, some quite significant in terms of set up, but the feeling on track remained the same and it was difficult for me to notice the differences, never mind any improvement.

“We made more big changes for the race, basically because we had no option, so it took me a couple of laps to get the feeling back with the bike. When Marc Marquez came past me I tried to hold on to him as long as possible, but I was struggling to get the bike stopped and then turned in the corner.

“I am physically bigger than the other Honda riders, so we need to find our own way with the set up of the bike. Maybe the track conditions in Qatar played a part, I don’t know, but we weren’t where we expected to be in the opening race and there is obviously a lot of room for improvement.

“The positive thing is that the changes we made for the Qatar race were definitely an improvement, so we now have a base to work from in Texas. We need to see how well the Circuit of the Americas suits this bike and my riding style but, hopefully, what we learned in Qatar will see me back on the pace, rebuilding my confidence in the bike and closing the gap to the front guys this weekend.”